Over the last year or so I’ve found myself really frustrated by issues of social justice, race, gender, and all types of equality. Not because I think that these issues don’t matter, but because
A) I’m very against the way the internet uses shaming and hashtags to replace actual progress, change, or anything of actual value. We quip, we call for someone to be fired, and we walk away, dusting our hands having worsened one life and not really improved another.
B) I don’t agree with the policing of art in any capacity, for any reason. You are welcome to disagree with me on this, but it’s my feeling that policing art only hampers genuine art and is most often hypocritical or self-serving, allowing someone who is not creative to enter into a faux dialog with a creator. And please note, there is a definite difference between policing and critiquing.
C) I’m often left at a loss for what to actually do. Though there are a lot of issues brought up, so few actually have any sort of solutions, suggested or implemented. I don’t really believe in protest (I don’t see that as having been effective recently), I don’t believe in petitioning, I don’t believe in social-media-generated boycotts. They don’t seem effective to me.
What do I believe in?
Art. That’s the only thing I believe in. That’s the only thing I see as having inherent, true value.
Now, a lot of fuckers will tell you that art is for the rich. For people who have the luxury of time and energy to create. Who aren’t living day-to-day just to survive.
Rather than argue with those people, I’ll ask them simply to put their money and/or time where their mouths are. Match the donations I make to art this year, and put them into something you believe in. Volunteer with an organization that you believe is more important than the ones I donate to this year. I see that as win/win. Art gets some money, and so does a clean water project. I’m going to make my donations regardless, so it’s up to you. Does art get money and clean water gets a hashtag? Or do they both get money? Those are the options here, and you’re in control of which way it goes.
Which segues, maybe runs over, the plan for 2016.
I’m going to try, regularly, to find a crowdfunding project that’s art-based and needs a little money. Could be a community thing, an individual, just about anything that looks good to me, and that looks like it would benefit from a few bucks.
I’m going to announce these on this web site for a couple reasons:
- To encourage others to donate as well. One struggle I always have is finding something to easily donate to. This potentially cuts out that struggle for others.
- Because I think there are those out there who read and listen to the content here and find it offensive. Probably because it’s willfully so, and I don’t think offensive is wrong. And I want to show, without a doubt, that I’m a more complicated person than my most offensive side. That my most offensive Tweet can define me, but so can charitable donation. Contradictions contained within the same person. An offensive web site that’s also donating to charity. Gasp. How will we manage?
I’m not going to lie. Part of this is that I’m not sure, after the last year or so, whether I’m a good person or not. Because there is so much of this stuff that I don’t care about, or where I find myself aligned with a minority of, perhaps, conservative people, or people who have been relatively adjusted to being conservative because of the movement of the political landscape. I find myself agreeing with people that I did not think I would agree with on issues of, basically, everyone being a goddamn baby about everything.
I do think I’m a good person, but I don’t like the creeping doubt. So part of this is about self-reassurance.
If you feel like this is self-indulgent or me cheerleading myself, well, it is. But it’s cheerleading myself when I’m down 34 points in the fifth quarter (I don’t know, fuck football).
And, as always, you can click away from this web site at will.
Today’s Cause:
The Sequential Artists Workshop in Gainesville, FL. ($10)
You can learn more here: http://sequentialartistsworkshop.org/wordpress/about/our-history/
And donate here: http://igg.me/at/0mjv48znCWI/x/8999157