Regional Universalism Seeing my Art from Global Perspective Copyright 2010 Charles Wish
Almost all of my art appropriates subject matter from some pretty diverse places and times. The fact that I’m able to blend imagery and symbols that evolved worlds apart from one another really says something about 21st century communication and the cultural environment pretty much all of us now participate in.
“In most examinations of cultural identity, people are seen as mere repositories of experience. Excluded is the factor of imagination. And this is where boundaries are crossed and hybrids fertilized. This is where everything is possible." --Pauline Melville
One morning way back in 2002 I found myself sitting in a Los Angeles coffee shop. It was on this occasion that I had a chance to converse with an interesting senior woman of Guatemalan descent. And while obviously still devoted to her native familial customs, she was enthusiastically well versed in the Druid traditions of Iona -- even though she had never spent any time in Europe. As we conversed further she also began to display a well-informed interest in 1930’s African-American music from the Mississippi delta, a region which she had also never encountered physically.
Blues and roots music from the American south is something I have long been drawn to and happened to be studying at the time this conversation took place. Consequently, a cultural connection between the two of us was now firmly established. When I inquired as to how she came in contact with these various cultures she explained that she spent a lot of her free time at the local public library. But, she also confessed that she enjoyed television along with the more recent text and audio-visual displays of the internet.
It was at this exact time and place that several ideas I had been entertaining absolutely crystallized for me: 1) Classical, cultural boundaries still exist but are no longer clearly stated. 2) One does not need to travel far to supersede such boundaries. 3) The notion of entirely abandoning our innate customs in order to reap the benefits of parallel cultures is superfluous.
I knew for certain now that I was living in an amazing time of connection and artistic possibilities. I began to rant about a band of brothers and sisters, pirates of the electric church I called them, buccaneers of cultural appropriation, happily pillaging the treasure troves of human expression. However, looking up from my coffee inspired maritime daydream, I was suddenly brought back to shore by the perplexed annoyed gaze of a man who had unwittingly been forced to abide my diatribe. Lowering my voice I remembered just how unappealing (even frightening) my ideas of culture exchange are for some.
When not sought after willingly the rapid influx of exotic cultures can be a terrifying experience. Furthermore, Americans suffer from an extreme, ideological schizophrenia when it comes to the maintenance and assimilation of culture. We are all born and raised diehard xenophobes, while we work like mad to sustain a nation that champions opportunities for cultural freedom and eclecticism. And I think it’s safe to assume most of the free world also behaves this way. As a result, we now live in a time where opportunities for cultural fusion and appropriation are pretty much unavoidable while the tethers of provincialism are still as strong as ever.
If we can pick up on the benefits of both sides of this coin… If we can learn to temper elective-freedom with the charm of our backwoods ways… The future of world culture will shine like no other culture before. Provincialism and eclecticism are both generous guides, to be cherished and harmonized, rather than isolated or ignored; for one leads us to freedom and variety, while the other connects us to our roots and guards us from being overwhelmed by the unnecessary.
Traditions are worthwhile parts of ourselves and should never be hidden, but they also shouldn’t be kept in a jar on the mantel. Rather, they should be taken down, played with, allowed to breathe and evolve.
Come to terms with the benefits of these notions and I believe one can’t help but find oneself getting the most from this holistic time of cultural interaction we are now in; brimming with the byproducts of idiosyncrasy, a balancing act of folklore and imagination will ensue. By the boundless marriages of acquired and innate motifs, free from the banality of dictated consumerism that clogged twentieth century culture, meaningful unique mutants of tradition and individuality shall be born. If Heidegger, a pioneer of existential thought but also a staunch critic of technological advancement, could have lived to see the day… what a confused smile he would have. [1]
* * *
References: [1] “The Oxford Illustrated History of Western Philosophy,” Kenny, Oxford University Press, 1997, pg. 232. “The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy,” Audi, Press Syndicate of The University of Cambridge, 1999, pgs. 370-373.
