Artists & Communism

Nascent or “Organic” Proletarian Art

In my time as editor of the RED blog, I have been fortunate enough to come across 2 artists I would consider to be “organically” representative of proletarian art in its present stage of development. For the purposes of this piece, they will remain anonymous. I mean no offense by considering their art as “organic” or, more accurately, nascent. Quite the opposite is true. However, as I hope to work with the individuals in the future, I have opted to avoid any unintended offense.

A Brief Definition of Kitsch

The Widow

This post is brief, intended to give definition to a term to be used in later posts. The term “kitsch” is a widely-used artistic terminology, which is closer to an adequate definition of the effects of an Imperialist consumer society on artistic products & artifacts than any other term. It is, however, not entirely adequate. This is largely due to the lack of examination regarding how the term “kitsch” forms around an artwork & what the term denotes in terms of aesthetics. These constitue initial notes, to be expanded upon at a later date.

The Artist-Depression Paradigm is Ableist

In my last post, I wrote about a videogame called Depression Quest. Most of this focused on technical aspects, considering how the more traditional techniques of aesthetics, form & content mix with videogame mechanics & player agency. Of all that I touched on, the sexism, ableism & abuse targeted at its lead creator, Zoe Quinn, was only mentioned briefly. Whilst I still wish to refrain from engaging in any discussion around the events that transpired, I do want to comment on something related, coming off of this.

A Short Note on Aesthetics

This post constitutes an expansion on the use of the term “aesthetics” in my previous posts. Previously, I have referred to the aesthetic as a specific realisation of purely formal technique. This is a necessary simplification for the sake of argument. However, the relationship is more complex than this.

Spiderman Isn’t That Amazing

Superheroes are intensely problematic. When I was about 19, I wrote a comic book script to attempt to describe why. The plot centred on a young man, probably in his early twenties, who becomes unemployed. He begins to fall into crime as result of this, stealing as a means to survive. At the end of the comic, a superhero beats him up & hands him to the police. There was nothing particularly interesting in the writing or the plot, but it underscores the kind of moral absolutes & class politics posited by the superhero archetype – Watchmen does so far better. Probably worth mentioning that I don’t want to do anything with the script, ever. I wrote a lot of shit when I was 19.

Funny Titles are Hard; Accurate Titles are Boring

I am going to write about something that I have never before written about in public: visual art. This, to a large degree, terrifies me. Somewhere along the line, the manner in which visual art is presented began to intimidate me. Bare in mind that I’ve been through art school – I already understand meaningless terms like “anacrusis” & I’m still worried to talk about this shit. I’m not sure where the initial fear came from. It could have come from reading Oscar Wilde’s art reviews. It could have come from a desire to rebel against my mother’s artistic production as a stained-glass painter/illustrator. I dunno. It could have come from the utterly intolerable manner in which the majority visual artists conduct themselves, the somewhat fanatic manner in which so many of them seem to aggrandise themselves. We will probably never know.

I’m Still Not “Post-Modern”

Following this post, I was asked a series of questions. Principally amongst these was a question it seems worth giving a quick response to on here – for clarity if nothing else. The question was relatively simple: ‘How are you suggesting an artist should express themselves?’ The answer is equally simple: I am not, in any way, advocating an Absolute Form.

A Note on Proletarian Art

In lieu of my last post, I think that it could be fairly interesting to quickly discuss the relationship between art, as a product, & hegemony. This is a broad sketch of something which, rather obviously, manifests itself in various different ways: production, consumption etc are not isolated phenomena. So, aye, what the fuck is that art shit all about then? 

That Wasn’t an Insurgency: It Was a Tantrum

Flappybird start screen. Even this bit looks shit.