Leftist orthodoxy of thought in the art world
Only one type of thought is allowed in the art world, and it’s leftist thought. Here, the participants in the discussion who dare to be different are Coleman Hughes and Ayishat Akanbi. I’ve linked to Hughes many times before (see this), but Ayishat Akanbi is new to me. She’s a Nigerian-British fashion stylist.
I’ve cued up the part where they discuss people clandestinely reaching out to them and expressing secret agreement:
Ayishat Akanbi said, “They want to be good people. They have to listen to people of color.” Then she, a person of color, asks herself, “Can I do this? Is this OK? Am I allowed to think this?…A lot of people don’t even know it’s possible to have another view.”
Leftists are truly despicable racist people. According to their ideology, the only people who are allowed to have any ideas are “people of color”? That is supposed to make white people who only think what people of color think “good people?” What about listening to anyone who knows what they are talking about regardless of color?
People of color don’t have the power to force their ideas on other people. The only reason white people take a subservient position based on skin color is because other white people higher up the social ladder tell them to.
Hypothesis: people drawn to and nestling comfortably within the art world tend to be people who chafe at operational measures of competence generally. They’re averse to markets. They’re averse to impartial application of rules (which assume agency and assume fixed penalties). Also, expressive people tend to have an affinity only for other expressive people and to exalt themselves contra the rest of us. They are allergic to patriotism which recognizes the value of other sorts of association and the value of all segments of the community.
Ayishat Akanbi’s vulnerability in this clip is quite touching. It points up the great risk of leaving the protection of the herd and stepping out, seemingly alone, into what one has been taught to see as an unremittingly racist, vicious world. It must be both comforting and tremendously empowering to find like-minded allies who are as nuanced and intelligent as Coleman Hughes. Here are “people of color” I am grateful to listen to and learn from. These courageous people are true leaders. More power to them.
At the end [paraphrase]: “A lot of people don’t even think it’s possible to have another point of view.”
I have cousins- or their spouses- who are in the NYC art world. Of the four, including spouses, one has made big bucks for decades, though that has dried up of late. Two have produced stuff, but I don’t believe they’ve made much money off it- though enough to get some free air fare w some art museum time. [The other is a STEM type.]
Regarding the inability in the art world to to believe there is another point of view, I am reminded of a visit from a NYC cousin and spouse to TX. I got a Christmas card from them that year, where the spouse wrote about being so sad that Kerry lost. As if there could be no other point of view. And bringing up politics in a Christmas card- who does THAT? NYC artist types do, apparently. At least some of them.
I hear that the one who has made big bucks has sold some of his pieces to wealthy Republicans. So, Republicans are good for SOMETHING. Regarding money, I also hear that there are many trust fund “babies” in the NYC art world, enabling them to not have to live off what they can produce and sell. Puts art world types supporting socialism in quite another light, doesn’t it?
We have another cousin who lives in flyover country, who has also done some painting, but is more the entrepreneur type. [I got exactly zero percent of the artist genes!] Definitely skeptical of government, which precludes supporting most Demos. She got into a Facebook discussion on politics with the NYC cousins, pointing out some inconvenient facts for Demos. The reply came back from the East that she wasn’t well-informed. You know, you need to confine your information to lefty Facebook feeds. 🙂
One of the NYC artist cousin couples owns a house in the same town as the flyover cousin, which indicates they’ve been close, regardless of politics. The other cousin recently celebrated a birthday, and had a conference call w relatives to celebrate same. But the flyover cousin who had the gall to disagree with his politics on Facebook wasn’t invited on the birthday conference call. Rather petty.
I agree with Art’s point that expressive types tend to associate. But it seems also that this applies primarily only to certain methods or tones of expression. It has to be almost dutifully transgressive, for example, or pro-forma transgressive, as oxymoronic as that may be.
A college classmate of mine has, in the intervening years, become a fairly high-profile professional artist. We didn’t interact at school and I doubt she would even recognize my name or anything like that at this point. But I occasionally wonder, when her name comes up in the class notes, what it’s like in her world.
The reply came back from the East that she wasn’t well-informed. You know, you need to confine your information to lefty Facebook feeds.
That liberals are so because they are ‘well-informed’ is a conceit you run into among faculty types. It was a favorite of a philosophy professor I once knew. He was born in 1924 and died in 2017. I doubt he ever got any information from Facebook. (None of the crank letters he wrote to local newspapers struck me as the work of someone better informed than anyone else who read the papers).
Gringo:
And bringing up politics in a Christmas card- who does THAT? NYC artist types do, apparently.
It’s a bubble symptom.
Example: back in 2006 my then-wife and I wandered in to an open house near our Seattle neighborhood. The real estate agent answered “how are you?” with “oh, fine, now if only the President would drop dead!”
Excuse me, wtf? Even if we both agreed with you (my wife did, I didn’t), that’s just … inappropriate.
But here in Seattle nobody ever thinks that anybody could possibly disagree with them, so they feel absolutely free to say just the most hateful things.
I wonder if it’s anything like the same in “red” bubbles, although anybody on that side who’s exposed to American media is very much aware that there are people round about who disagree with them.
Someone I know was offered a lead role in an off Bdwy play; this person – a white person – was selected based on the “normal” audition process.
Just prior to the commencement of rehearsals, this person met with the directors at which point they began seeking answers from this person about items such as how he/she felt about white guilt or white “privilege,” etc.
It was clear from the direction of the questioning that they expected this person hold the “proper” views , the politically , leftist-correct views.
They wanted to make sure this person “fit” the role (even though the play was set in Europe just prior to and during WWII).
This person left that meeting – held at a Starbucks – literally shaking with a combination of anger and discomfort. Discomfort because this person was literally being accused of having ‘wrong thought” that were considered incorrect and that would disqualify he/she for the role..After all, she had just been the target of a micro-Stalinist interrogation.
Shortly thereafter this person notified the directors that they needed to find another person for the role. He/she did not want to participate in any show with the directors.
This person has told me that just about everybody he/she knows in the theater community is a hard core leftist progressive.
I had mentioned some days back, that today blacks and hispanics were given preferential treatment for theatrical parts in NYC shows (including Bdwy shows). And if the hispanic does not “look” hispanic (that is, dark skinned or black ) they will not be considered “hispanic.”
The theatrical community in NYC is really no different in thought and actions than CPUSA members (which, surprise, surprise is headquartered in Manhattan).
Why is the “art world” Leftist?
Because, whether it is music, dance, paint, one must always be in search of innovation, of doing “it” better.
That is the heart of Progressivism.
But humans are imperfect creatures, and so are their outputs.
We haven’t had Mozart or Beethoven for >two centuries. Instead, we get John Cage.
We don’t have any Mary Cassatts, Robert Henris, Winslow Homers, John Singer Sargents or Merritt Chases. Instead we have con men, like the fellow who not so long ago sliced up a shark, put the pieces back together in order in a tank, filled the tank with formalin and sold the reassembled shark for something like $150 mill! Or a Kincaid, whose appeal is regressive but is trite comfort, like singing a lullaby, who also rolls in dough!
To imitate, to take as a model something created by a worthy predecessor, is maudlin. Newer is not automatically better, but that notion clashes with the Left’s forward lunge.
My hope, if I ascend to heaven, is to hear Beethoven’s 10th symphony!
I don’t know what Coleman nor the Nigerian with pounds of hair upon her head produce as “art”. And I don’t care.
Give me the curmudgeon award!
Artists relate to emotional arguments much more than to logical arguments.
I know that is pretty simplistic, but is any more complex explanation required?
“Artists relate to emotional arguments much more than to logical arguments.” – Roy
This is true, as our family can attest, because one son IS an artist, and so in amateur ways was his grandmother, who has not an ounce of logic in her soul.
We usually go to him to explain emotive people to the rest of us left-brained engineer types.
HOWEVER, he is a confirmed conservative, Trump-voting, Christian.
Maybe it’s because his art includes making knives and swords as well as jewelry.
To the general point, though, his college years in art school were literally ruined by the progressive artsy-schmartsy junk that the teachers insisted he at least pretend to produce.
Pfui.
Defund the art police?
Eva – works for me!
As a musician myself, I do certainly find that musicians tend to fall into step with the usual leftist orthodoxy. The reasons for this might include:
–mental laziness or disinterest: if you simply don’t want to think about politics then the easiest thing is to just parrot or adopt whatever people around you are saying
–most artists are poor and poor people are ideal recipients of the socialist doctrine
–artists typically are not well-read outside their area and do not have experience in fields like economics, business, law and history, therefore they don’t have a balanced view
–if you lack experience or are naive or uninterested, then you are going to prefer a simple ideology that can give you easy answers to difficult questions; that adds up to the leftist orthodoxy again
Defund NPR, NEA.
Leclerc,
Agree, but let’s think big… Defund HUD. That would save $44 billion.
I think we’re slightly on the wrong track thinking this is a unique problem in the artistic world. It happens in the normal business world as well. The reason leftism is accepted is that its adherents are willing to scream at you, shame you, curse you and your ancestors at the top of their lungs if you say anything they disagree with. Do you know any conservatives who would do that? Conservatives content themselves with gentle mockery, and usually not in personal interaction at that. This phenomenon is not new. It happened to Ronald Reagan when he opposed the communists attempting to take over the Screen Actors Guild back in the 50’s. It would happen to me if I were to chide a new hire proudly announcing “my pronouns” in an introduction to the company. It may be worse in the artistic world, but remember, they say, “Everything is political!” and they mean it.
See Pip and how he became great in Great Expectations and replace the convict with foreign entities told to buy up left art… ie. communists and so fulfill another item on the list so often put up here…