|
|
CULTURAL CLEARCUTTING
Our interpersonal skills—skills critical to the survival of any
social species—have been atrophying from lack of use as the modern
person moves from our own house or apartment, to our car, complete with
our own personal entertainment center, to our own personal desk with our
own personal computer, then back in the car again, returning home to spend
hours in front of our the television screen. We eat dinner in facing the
TV instead of eachother. On the bus, we don headphones or bury our faces
in the newspaper instead of chatting with our neighbor. At the café,
which has long been a center for cultural exchange and intellectual debate,
we now check our email. Will we need to fend off the “café
silencio” syndrome by mandating “laptopfree zones?”
Has it become a political act to simply say ‘good morning’
to someone when you pass them on the street?
Human cultural and social structures, which evolved over millions of
years, have been clearcut in much the same way as our forests have been.
A healthy, mature forest contains a network of countless overlapping and
interwoven connections: between leaves and air, roots and mycorrhizae,
birds and bark, worms and soil, water and leaves, and on and on. When
this forest is clearcut, the intricately woven fabric is left in tatters,
and it takes time and attention to reweave it.
In the same way that we must replant our landscapes, we recognize that
we must pay very close attentionat this time to reweaving our unraveled
and torn social fabric. As we design and begin life in our New Villages,
we can utilize the participatory arts to help achieve this reweaving.
When we gather together to dance, sing, play music and tell stories, we
empower ourselves to reclaim control over our social health.
Without live-art gatherings in which every person participates, I believe
societies suffer at best from meaninglessness and at worst from self-destruction.
The low-priority placed on gatherings of this kind and upon art in general
(i.e. “i’m just too busy”) is an indication of a society
with a declining quality of life. Please note that this desperate mode
of existence is just the opposite of that grand promise of modern, industrial
society—to provide abundance and leisure for all through technology.
If we truly seek to form an abundant and thriving New Society, we must
recognize that the practice of art is by no means optional. Now, more
than ever, we need arts practice to help us relearn the social skills
necessary for our survival.
top | table
of contents
ANTI-COPYRIGHT LICENSE
This license allows you to legally make copies of this document for non-commercial
use, as long as all copies are given away free of charge. all or part
of this document may be freely pirated and quoted. the author, however,
requests to be informed at  .
|
|
