Sourcing Information for Marx Beginners

Sourcing Information

Reading Sourcing Information I constantly felt intrigued by the artists and their stories. A Nike shoebox becomes an outrageous symbol conjuring images of holocaust and oppression. A single photograph embodies a past moment in history. Elephant poop enrages the establishment. These artists took their interests and an outside influence to spark their work. One thing I wondered about was whether or not the piece of art itself was as important as the process and the journey of the work.

I feel that I come to ideas by researching other artist’s work. The work of Chris Ofili was interesting because he was looking at the culture around him (the article even made mention of Lil Kim, and the blurb on page 171 went through a dizzying amount of influences mostly from the entertainment industry) and using it as influence. When I start or get stuck in my work, I look to other artists—whether their medium be canvas, screen or in music—in order to carry on. This was an engaging read that helped me to get a perspective on where some other artists are coming from for their inspiration.

Marx for Beginners

While it can be said that this graphic novel is probably as “Fair and Balanced” as Fox News, it was certainly interesting to read. Taking a strong leftist position, Ruis paints a picture of capitalism as evil and communism as the only way to solve the world’s ills. And although I don’t necessarily disagree, the truth probably lies somewhere in between. Sometimes while reading I wished for a less snarky and biased voice, but the material was informational and presented in an entertaining fashion, so I can’t complain.

There are several different ways that Marxist philosophy comments on the role of art in a communistic society. Firstly, art functions as a somewhat separate entity from the economic system, although they are not completely separate. Engels explains in one of his writings that I stumbled across that the hand created the brain, not the other way around. In other words, labor influences art and culture. Marxist philosophy suggests that the struggle of the working proletariat against the bourgeois should be the influence for art. Which begs the question, is art about revolution? The Dadaists and the Futurists believed so. The Futurist Manifesto was a call to arms, to throw out the old and come in with the new in the decade prior to communist Italy. Dada was a revolution against the old art establishment.

Another aspect of how it relates could be in who the audience is. Who the art is directed towards has proletariat vs. bourgeois implications. Is the work a mural who’s purpose is to beautify a portion of a rundown urban area, or a piece that reaches out to the community? Or does it serve as a commodity to be consumed? Questions about what art’s purpose is and who the audience is are questions that Marxist philosophy can help to answer.

James G