The modem period in history can be characterized as a time of changes in human thought and economic life. The remarkable features of this time were education at all levels, new labor relations, and new production modes. Women writers and artists received a chance to speak about their problems and grievances, hopes, and ideas often omitted by their male counterparts. Thesis I am arguing that women writers and artists of the modern period speak about social and personal problems from the feminist point of view and unveil such themes as gender equality, lesbian and free love, adulteress, and sexuality.
The uniqueness of themes and feelings expressed by modern women artists is that they describe wishes and emotions kept secret for many centuries. Their works are unique because the authors depict events, experience, memories through different frames which are connected with each other (Matthews and Platt 560, 562). For instance, Frida Kahlo and Mary Cassatt are real feminists who fight for equal rights with men and respect. In their paintings, they portray a new social order and political ideas dominated in society. The most popular paintings of Frida Kahlo are The Two Fridas (1939), The Broken Column (1944), Self Portrait (1941). These paintings unveil feminist ideas and self-identity popularized and promulgated by women artists. The Two Fridas depict two Fridas in different dressing (a traditional and a wedding dress). The feminist idea is that instead of depicting a man, which is more natural for a wedding ceremony, Kahlo depicts another woman. This can be interpreted as a rejection of patriarchy and male dominance in society. The Broken Column demonstrates the self-identity of a woman and her inner strength. In this painting, Kahlo states that the female is strong enough to oppose the world and protect herself from cruelty, violence, and oppression, keeping natural beauty and feminine features.
From women writers and artists, we can learn about the hopes and ideals of women, their attitude towards family and lust. For instance, Mary Cassatt is one of those artists who unveil the importance of a happy family and children in the life of every Woman (Her most famous paintings are Portrait of a Little Girl and Children on Shore) (Mathews, p. 32). We know from these women that family structure and new social changes help women to obtain an equal position with men. For instance, in Mother and Child, she portrays human sympathy and care, beauty and tenderness typical for every mother. The uniqueness of Mary Cassatt’s style is that she depicts the natural desires and values of women, women, and their hopes. In Modern Woman, Cassatt idealizes femininity portraying females as independent members of society. Cassatt depicts that women are in their choices. Modern Woman depicts a young woman reading a newspaper. The feminist idea is that women become educated and politically conscious; they are interested in public affairs and review recent news (similar to men). The women have a vivid imagination and romantic nature but do not show it because of strict morals. Cultural changes and education opportunities inspire many women to receive high-quality education and earn for living. So, modern life should not block women’s creativity and talent, and writers work with the masculine and feminine side of the brain.
Still, as for the majority of women all this is a bit surplus. They most surely turn to part-time employment reproved by lower grading and pay. The women state that historically, distinct gender roles were clearly established, although there was a change toward a greater appreciation for the work performed by women (Matthews and Platt, p. 582). Similar to Kahlo, Virginia Woolf speaks about social oppression of women and their human rights. In such works as A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf writes that ‘modern’ Woman is still suppressed by socioeconomic factors including poverty and lack of privacy (Stockton, p. 321). The only thing a woman needs is “a room of one’s own”. “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction” (Woolf, p. 3). These ideas underline desire of women to be independent and equal to men. As the most important, women speak about the theme of adulteress in marriage often omitted by men. For instance, in most of her paintings Frida is depicted along. Some of her paintings reflect her true feelings towards sex unveiling desperation and great sorrow. In their works, women state that only a true love helps them to survive and work. The main idea of this theme is that love affairs influence their style of life and world perception. Women alternate between moods of activity, optimism, power and passive states of contemplation and despondency (Mathews, p. 64).
In sum, the modern period gives new opportunities for women to express themselves and speak about secret wishes and ideals. The main debates concern gender roles and changes which affected the community. In contrast to male artists, women underline that a gender undergoes metamorphoses in much the same way that the nation itself has grown. These women make progress toward new vision of gender and sexuality, freedom and equal status in society.
Works Cited
Mathews, N. M. Mary Cassatt: A Life, Yale University Press, 1998.
Matthews, R., Platt, D. The Western Humanities, The Renaissance to the PresentVolume II, McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 5 edition, 2003.
Stockton, Ch. Virginia Woolf and the Renaissance: The Promise of Capital and the Violence of Materialism. CLIO 24 (1995): 231.
Woolf, V. A Room of One’s Own. G. K. Hall & Company; Largeprint edition, 1999.
Living as a non- English speaking artist in an English speaking country is a fascinating challenge and an advantage to a nation since aliens in a country are play pivotal role in promoting cultural activities as well as innovation. Empirical and past comparative studies indicate that in the history of civilization and human culture, aliens in any given country have always been known as one major source of social vibrancy since they share local traditions with the local people alongside passing their own cultural values to the local population.
In cases such aliens are quite intimate with the local population. Then it is indefinite that a lot of unprecedented cultural exchange will indeed take place leading to a positive outcome. Brandellero indicates that due to the uniqueness of strangers or immigrants, local milieus dealing with production have developed keen interest of attracting and retaining them for purposes of enhancing growth and sustaining their economies (10).
As this paper analyses, artists are important personalities in any cultural economy bearing in mind that they act as forerunners in harnessing and generating capabilities through their own artistic works. By so doing, they directly contribute towards economic growth of the respective countries they are living in. It is also against this scope that this paper explores non-English speaking artists living in English speaking countries, their impact on the economy and some of the challenges facing them.
Understanding cultural and ethnic diversity
In her publication, Brandellero argues that cultural diversity and its link to the status of an outsider is a factor that creates tension, but has a positive effect towards innovative potential (11). While cultural diversity has myriad of similarities to ethnic diversity, it is prudent to mention that the former is a key driver and a potential source of innovation, creativity and building positive relationships. The latter are essential in enhancing mutual competitiveness.
In their cultural theory, Schwartz and Thompson elaborate that a new entrant into a foreign country may act as an intersection between the local community and outside world largely due to multiple ethnic and spatial ties. To emphasize on this, it is worth noting that contemporary immigrants, English or non-English speakers, are contributing immensely in strengthening of advanced urban economies by enhancing competitive advantages.
Effective understanding of cultural and ethnic differences have become some of the most fundamental requirements which businesses and immigrant artists need today since it assists them in building relationships by fostering understanding of the cultural values of members of different cultures alongside interpreting of their behaviors and actions.
The efficient performance of a non-English speaking artist as well as his or her participation in the growth of the economy of a host English speaking nation is to a larger extent, influenced by cultural differences experienced through complex interaction between the environment and individuals. Brandellero makes a significant contribution related to this argument by pointing out that an understanding of cultural diversity and ethnicity easily affect the degree of satisfaction, motivation results and behavior of individuals (35).
His argument concurs with Hofstede’s model and networking theory that demonstrate how cultural differences impact on the dimensions of an organization in terms of networking, gaining social capital, relationship marketing and development of human resource (Brandellero 54). Additionally, the differences also directly impact on intra organizational communication, problem-solving capabilities and creativity levels.
An artist who is living in the contemporary cultural economy has a greater advantage since the modern global economy has emerged as a thriving market offering colossal employment opportunities in many cities and countries globally.
Brandellero posits that the cultural economy offer potential support for artists of all nation whether English speaking or non- English speaking, and massive opportunities to generate artistic capabilities for productive purposes (20). This is made possible by the spatial manifestations created by the cultural economy, which play a pivotal role of attracting substantial and significant attention, which is an important playing field in the revolution of culture in a new economy.
Living as a non-English speaking artist
Living as a non-English artist in another country as opposed to one’s own native land is a major challenge brought about by the diverse changes that are mainly structural, of global proportion and that continuously alter and impact on experiences. Research studies clearly indicate that living and working in a foreign country may affect a worker’s private realms and social life due to issues such as industrial capitalism and rational forms.
Scholars on modern sociology point out that a lot of transformations involving cultural, political, economic and social processes happen differently in diverse nations and result in the emergence, development and flourishing of new structures of social life that may affect an immigrant worker.
Brandellero argues that non-English speakers migrating to other English speaking nations in order to work ought to understand the culture of the country they are going to live in bearing in mind that this will shape how they relate with the locals and enhance their business performance (14).
Needless to say, cultural understanding in a foreign land is of great essence if an artist is to reap the optimum benefits out of his or her artistic work. It is also prudent to underscore the fact that should cultural differences between artists and locals clash at any given point, then the expected benefits either to the artist or host country will be null and void.
Importance of effective understanding of cultural differences by non-English speaking artists
National culture is a phenomenon that distinguishes one group from another. Therefore, different nations have unique cultures that affect or largely determine how they run their affairs. A country may express its culture through conceptual elements such as arts, rituals or beliefs. For non-English speaking artists living in English speaking countries, it is definite that they indeed encounter myriad of challenges brought about by national culture.
Besides, when employed, they serve, co-work and interact with workers and customers from different cultural backgrounds who manifest various gender, ethnic, regional and national beliefs. This calls for an effective understanding of the local or national culture of a host nation and development of coping strategies in order to be productive. Most importantly, the barrier posed by language differences may not be eluded in most cases since an artist may not be a multilingual speaker.
According to Brandellero, for individuals or companies to perform successful business ventures in countries different from their own, they must have an effective understanding of different cultures (12). Besides, they must apply knowledge in management as tactics which are important for success.
It is imperative to mention that non-English speaking artists have to be flexible and keep changing their strategies to meet the needs and challenges a new cultural environment presents. Those intending to innovate or invest in the cultural economy must incorporate knowledge in management with the strategies they have devised. With globalization taking rapidly taking effect, these artists must come up with ways to overcome organizational and national cultures and the diverse challenges posed by the same.
Using Hofstede’s model, it is important to note that special cultures of diverse nations are based on different independent dimensions that include short term or long term orientation, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity or femininity, individualism or collectivism and power distance (Brandellero 62).
Understanding of the different independent dimensions will greatly assist a non-English speaking artist to predict how societies or nations that host them culturally operate. It is imperative to note that the culture of a given society is the sum of its assumptions, beliefs and values.
The man-made part of the culture of a society is influenced by the perceptions individuals have of their social environment. As such, a prescribed behavior of a particular society is shaped by those shared perceptions (Brandellero 43). An artist may not be able to directly observe culture, but can easily infer it from verbal exchanges and daily societal activities.
Knowledge of different cultures enhances networking
According to Pettigrew Whipp’s model of dimensions of change, effective understanding of different cultures assists business owner to develop their social networking behaviors (Brandellero 18). This argument clearly indicates that a non-English speaking artist who intends to succeed in his or her operations in an English speaking host country must possess or develop positive patterns of behavior necessary for social networking.
Indeed, many businesses today are operated with an intention of growth and maximization of profits. Positive networking behaviors should be enhanced by the non-English speaking artists as will not only aid them to effectively understand the cultures of the environment they are situated and build good relationship, but will also assist them to acquire scarce resources for business growth.
The effective understanding of factors such as masculinity and femininity cultures in a host country will enhance a positive networking behavior that will improve an artist’s relationship with the different cultures and aid it in obtaining external resources necessary to drive up arts business (Brandellero 19).
Brandellero supports the above notion and points out that effective understanding of different ethnic cultures of a host nation is a means of success for business owners who have developed networking skills (35). In fact, it is a common denominator underlying a business agenda and is suitable for establishing a higher networking behavior.
Mourkogiannis contributes to Brandellero’s argument by indicating in his moral purpose model that entrepreneurs, and in this case non-English speaking artists, should effectively and efficiently include social spheres in expanding their networks with a bid to develop a competitive advantage in a host nation (Brandellero 20). An artist can achieve this by raising his or her social status via vertical social mobility and learning the local language.
Additionally, studies have indicated that effective understanding of different cultures by a business creates for it a dyadic and interconnected relationship that has diverse ties such as influence, exchange and information. It is imperative to note that the aforementioned ties are part of a business’ assets that legitimizes the business, enables it to access resources and provides it with information.
In agreement, different scholars have used interactive perspective to link cultural and economic resources to economic opportunity structure in analyzing the effectiveness of businesses understanding diverse cultures. According to them different ethnic groups, depending on the structure of economic opportunities, brings income to a business.
From an interactive perspective, Brandellero points out that effective understanding of cultures helps in distribution of resources through built relationships (42).
Different societies vary in terms of status, power and class. As such a non-English speaking artist in an English speaking host country will be supplied with capital from ethnic networks depending on social relationships and ties built on social obligation and trust. It is imperative to note that customer relationship and ties with a business depend on a cultural enclave the business is in.
Knowledge of culture and relationship marketing
According to neoclassical microeconomic theory, relationship marketing is an important marketing activity that businesses having their operations in different countries carry out for successful establishment and sustenance of relational exchanges (Brandellero 32). An artist in a foreign nation can create a long-term relationship between his business and individuals or groups within a particular host culture in a relational market.
Neoclassical microeconomic theory presents a transactional school of thought that indicates that effective understanding of different cultures by a business will assists it in developing relational exchanges with the locals.
Consequently, this will aid it in the maximization of profits if it is found in a competitive market. Additionally, an artist living in an English speaking host country can develop exchanges with the locals and demonstrate rational behavior that shows a deep understanding of diverse cultures. Consequently, this will cause an artist to fashion his or her products to meet the cultural demands of the host country thereby making the artist to become a utility maximizer and a price taker.
Statistical literature revealing imbalance in art and theater
Past statistical research evidences have indicated that receive neglect in some countries. For instance, a report carried out in the nineties indicated that the Australian media failed to show a reflection of the diversity of the Australian people. Advertisement pictures and other programs conspicuously made exclusions to cultures that are not English speaking while portrayals in comedy only showed stereotypical images of the non-English speaking people.
Current statistics on non-English speaking representation in the media have shown estimations that slightly less than two percent of roles in the acting industry, especially in regards to mainstream drama in television, were directly played by other ethnic communities of Australia and the aboriginals (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 30), an indication that the level of participation of first-generation Australians of the non-English speaking cultures is extremely low.
This indicates that there is only a small amount of cultural recognition of the non-English speaking Australians in the acting industry. Such low levels of recognition show that either the acting industry is ignorant of the non-English speaking Australians or simply their willingness in participation is relatively low.
Further reports indicated that in any given drama shown on the mainstream Australian televisions, out of the two percent non-English speaking actors, thirty-five percent were Australians while the rest were a collection of all other cultures that are not English speaking. Such figures have been continually used in debates regarding the participation of such low numbers. Authors have argued that such figures represent a “pitifully” low when put into comparison with the more than one-third of the Australian origin.
More arguments have indicated that portrayal of numbers in the media industry is a very vital indicator of commitment and participation in arts. In cultural societies with many cultures, it is obvious that there are also talented individuals in all cultures. They are thus expected to perform specific duties as their talents dictate.
In examination of the Australian culture, such low numbers of representation of other cultures in the theatre industry raise serious concerns about consideration of other cultures in Australian theatre. Being a non-English speaking artist in such a country stands a limited chance of penetration in the theatre industry given the low figures shown in previous reports.
Other measuring dimensions
Bertone, Keating & Mullaly (30) argue that it is not impossible to take measurements in regards to non-English speaking cultures, especially the first and the second generations, participation in the arts industry. They posit that ABS conducts census with details of birthplace, employment and occupation.
But there is omission of such cultures such as the Aborigines. With this consideration, they continue to argue that a report published in the mid-nineties, indicated that there were only ninety-five actors of the first generation out of the total 1506. This represented a mere six percent of the total actors in the acting industry, indicating a slight percentage of first-generation participation of non-English speakers.
These figures, they argue, represent only small fraction of numbers of what would be expected in the theatre industry. The second generation, with one Australian parent composed of eleven percent. The English speaking of Australian origin comprised of more than sixty-four percent of the total actors in theatre while those from English speaking countries comprised of the remaining eight percent. This still shows that consideration of non-English speaking people in Australian theatre industry was still low as reflected in numbers.
The use of numbers has been greatly disputed as a general concept of determination of participation of non-English speaking people in the Australian theatre and thus new modes have been developed. Consideration of demographics and economic realities of those involved in the theatre industry has been adopted as a new approach to determination of participation. By consideration of demographics, another report published showed great diversities in regional representations.
The report published by ASB showed that participation of people from outside Australia comprised of only thirteen percent of the total workforce. Out of these, approximately six percent are from Europe and the USSR. Approximately five percent are from South East, North East and Southern Asia regions.
The Oceania region is represented by only a fraction slightly less than one percent. Africa closes as the last in representation with only zero point five percent in the theatre industry. This is a clear indication that regions of origin play a role in determination of participation in the theatre industry (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 38).
Implications
Such statistical evidences provided above have not been directly explained. The cause of the presence of such statistical evidence is yet to be determined. But with surety, there seemed no suggestion or presence of literature that lack of interest in the non-English speaking population was the major cause of such low numbers in theatre participation. There is an attributed presence of attitudes and barriers resulting from the involved institutes.
According to new evidences acquired by the ESB, there is a strong consideration of the view that opportunities available for non-English speaking Australians of the first generation were relative few compared to English speaking ones. This view, coupled with the previous fact of causal indicates that the non-English speaking people are marginalized in the Australian theatre.
Given that they have not failed to show interest in theatre and acting, explanation of such numbers raise serious concerns. Determination of real cause of presence in theatre industry is yet to be achieved.
Such under-representations may be considered invisible within public domain. Since research has revealed that there is a problem with cultural representations, alternation of the situation has failed to commence. Consequently, there has been automatic misrepresentation as multicultural societies are concerned.
This misrepresentation is sending a wrong signal of exclusion to the world with an indication of non-belongingness in the mainstream theatre industry. This thus implies that non- English speaking people are considered stereotypes and thus considered suitable for low and more casual positions such as “Taxi driver, cook and Greengrocer” (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 76).
Problem of funding
It has also been noted that non-English speaking people undergo problems of funding in areas they participate, especially in regards to art. Bertone, Keating and Mullaly (78) continue to posit that the Non-English speaking in Australia, especially the first generation seem to dominate in areas which are less funded in theatre than areas with well-funded programs.
These areas include youth theatre groups, ethno-specific companies and theatres that are considered to be communal (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 76). As a matter of fact, funding would be much appreciated, especially in line with acquiring necessary knowledge needed either to fund their investments or acquire higher levels of education to support their works of art.
These areas are not fully commercial and their contents are not of great influence in the media as mainstream contents are. As a result, they do not receive much attention from across English speaking Australians and are thus considered less competitive; hence the presence of a majority of non-English speaking groups. Due to this kind of attraction, there seems to be shunning from mainstream in regard to ethno-specific groups in Australia. As such, no commercial attachment is given.
On the proportionality of funding, there seems to be a disproportional approach to the situation. As revealed from interviews, literature and available evidence from statistics, there is great bias in theatre and art funding from sponsoring bodies. Although there are steps that have been taken to contain the situation, the disparities have not been eliminated.
With the creation of funding workshops and organization of church bodies to sponsor art in Australia, equal funding has not yet been achieved. The national State government has also shown concern to lack of funding in multicultural art. As a result, it has shown great devotion by commitment through a creation of a funding program aimed at funding multicultural art in Australia (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 58).
Despite these efforts, mainstream related theatrical organizations continue to dominate attraction of funding from willing bodies (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 62). This has been associated with related profits and achieved from productions related to mainstream. Sponsors have thus put more in mainstream with a view to regain or sell their image to the public. Project-related events have increasingly dominated the mainstream art industry due to organizational perspective.
Barriers to multicultural art
In most countries with multicultural practices, there is always the problem of balance. In Australia, there seems to be a problem as regards this balance of English speaking and non-English speaking due to several barriers. To begin with, the domination of English cultures and traditions continue to alienate content related to non-English speaking cultures.
Secondly, there is an observed lack of willingness as far as theatrical art is concerned. Attribution of class boundaries has locked out interest of multicultural participation in art. For instance, non-English speaking people are considered working class and thus thought as unsuitable for creation of artistic content suitable for mainstream art industry in Australia (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 35).
Thirdly, there are discrimination related implications in auditioning processes whereby individuals are given content in a complex language. During funding applications, there is a problem with the application process whereby there is need for clarification of nationality and whether one is English speaking or not. These are aimed at eliminating non-English speakers from English speakers as theatre and art are concerned.
Other problems such as market size and unobservable risk-taking in the industry for non-English speaking additionally added to the problem of limited numbers of non-English speakers in art and theatre. Conservatism has also been identified as one of the leading problems due to the fact that theatre audiences have been thought to be conservative and thus unlikely to accept new content, different from original English.
Philosophical perspectives
There have been diverse views in regards to the multicultural imbalance in art as depicted in Australia. Many philosophers have argued under the perspectives of social just, indicating humanistic approach to the situation. They claim that recognition of different cultures is imperative in a multicultural society.
This creates a society that embraces diversity and respect for all human beings. They have however noted that, success in this regard needs careful planning and production of competent content (Bertone, Keating & Mullaly 50).
From the dimension of laizze fair, arguments such as industrial self-regulation of art and theatre industry should prevail without integration or intervention of external bodies. In either case, there has been proposition of recognition of multicultural practices in a society that has minority cultures that accept majority culture content.
Conclusion
It is evident from the discussion that there is marginalization of non-English speakers as artists in English speaking nations, for example, as apparent in Australia. Of great concern are those who do not understand English language for purposes of understanding the local culture. Although the claims have been arrived at from statistical approach, demographical and economic approaches have also shown correlation to supportive evidences.
The obvious disparities have been attributed to several problems faced in art and theatre industry such as problems of funding, lack of will, discrimination and conservatism. Light from philosophical perspectives have raised attention to the situation. As argued from a social justice dimension, recognition of multicultural environment is important in fostering national unity and achievement of human respect.
In most cases, the challenge posed by traditional and cultural balance has been noted as a growing challenge that needs to be addressed for the sake of assisting artists who may be disadvantage by language barrier. As already mentioned, artists who are non-English speakers may be alienated by the dominant English cultures and works of art that may be dominant compare to those of non-English speakers.
Although both art contents may be relatively similar, it is definite that non-English speakers who practice various works of art may be largely disadvantaged in one way or another. In terms of theatrical art, there seems to be lack of cultural willingness seems to be dominant in most English speaking nations bearing in mind that cultural differences may pose real challenges to non-English speakers. On a final note, it is prudent to mention that societies differ a lot in terms of class, power and class.
While these variations may be welcome in terms of diversity in generating resources both for native and non-English speakers, it is prudent to mention that ethnic differences may adversely play a negative role in alienating non-English speakers. Various factors play unique roles but of great importance are the role played by language in promoting cultural harmony.
From the philosophical point of view, industrial self-regulation of both art and theatre industry ought to take place with proper regulation of the industry by relevant bodies. There are doubts that regulation of artistic works may no be balanced or uniform across the board. As a matter of fact, those who may suffer in this situation are the aliens who are non-English speakers. It is indeed necessary to recognize multicultural practices among different artists from various backgrounds.
Works Cited
Bertone, Santina, Keating, Clare & Mullaly, Jenny. The Taxi driver, the Cook and the Greengrocer: The representation of non-English speaking background people in theatre, film and television. Melbourne: The Australia Council, 2006. Print.
Brandellero, Amanda. Crossing cultural borders? Migrants and ethnic diversity in the cultural industries. London: European Cultural Foundations, 2007. Print.
Technological advances of the past centuries have benefited humanity in numerous ways, yet, most significantly, in terms of relieving the workload and facilitating the operations of different professions. As predicted by Marx, the growing productivity of labor would result in the expansion of “disposable time,” which, according to him, constituted the absolute wealth of every nation (Hughes and Southern, 2019).
Nevertheless, even though the forecast of the German philosopher has been proved mostly correct, the question of how people choose to spend their free time remains topical. It can be suggested that the new technologies allowed people to free themselves from toil, but simultaneously, they started to consume more of their valuable time. Social media platforms are one the examples of disruptive technologies which were created to help people make their lives easier but eventually started to harm them. According to research, long periods spent online can lead to a decrease in sleep quality, poor body image, and low self-esteem (Kelly et al., 2018).
French philosopher Baudrillard (1993) believed that virtual technologies removed problems from people’s lives but at the same time made them lose their identity and desire to engage in intellectual work. This essay will discuss how modern digital media artists challenge and promote the idea of Baudrillard and it will examine their projects dedicated to the topics of social inequality and mass consumption.
An Analysis of “Reflect” By Nikkolas Smith
Due to the recent developments in the US and other western nations, more people have become aware of the systemic oppression and racism black people experience in these countries. The death of George Floyd became a turning point for millions of people to start demanding social and racial equality from their governments. This situation motivated and inspired many digital artists to create works that would highlight the issues existing in society and subsequently would help draw the attention of even larger audiences to them. Nikkolas Smith is one of the most popular digital artists today and is not afraid of being vocal about social inequality inherent in the US.
This African American illustrator has a sizeable social media following, including more than two hundred thousand subscribers on Instagram. Additionally, he worked with renowned film industry names such as Pixar, participated in several exhibitions, held workshops, and authored three books. Activism plays a major role in his art, and many of his works underscore problems such as police brutality targeted against minorities as well as promote social causes, for example, the Black Lives Matter movement.
Nikkolas Smith has created many works dedicated to the problem of social inequality, yet the digital painting titled “Reflect” is certainly one of the most popular ones at this moment. The image depicts a black woman who took a stand on one knee in front of a row of police officers. The woman raised her left hand, holding a mirror which is positioned at the head level of the police. From looking at the image, the context of the situation becomes clear. Namely, Smith wanted to demonstrate to his audience a scene from one of the Black Lives Matter protests, which occurred in great numbers in the US in the Summer of 2020.
The image conveys a powerful message by juxtaposing an unarmed and defenseless woman proudly with a line of officers dressed in combat armor whom she opposes. This artwork is summoned to stress the peaceful nature of the protests and to show the inadequate response on the part of the authorities. The mirror raised by the woman is an element that has a special function in the overall composition of the image. It works as a metaphor suggesting police officers reflect on the questions of why they try to stop a peaceful protest and what they protect.
The artwork by Smith is one of the examples of digital art, which directly challenges the notions outlined by Baudrillard. Yet, before establishing how Smith’s work proves the philosophers’ ideas wrong, Baudrillard’s main argument has to be clearly stated. Essentially, the French author writes that technological progress has enabled people to escape all of their problems and stop reflecting on crucial issues such as liberty. Ultimately, this extreme dependence on technology has led people to abandon their unique personalities and become “the same” (Baudrillard, 1993, p. 58).
In other words, individuals no longer play clearly-defined roles in society and refuse to associate themselves with any responsibility, choosing to live a comfortable but meaningless life. Smith’s work cannot be used as evidence in support of Baudrillard’s point of view since it explores and promotes ideas that refute the philosophers’ notions. Whereas Baudrillard describes modern people as passive and over-reliant on technology, Smith shows them as decisive and willing to vocally address inequalities. The American illustrator conveys a message through this digital piece of art which claims that protestors openly speak truth to power.
Moreover, the Black Lives Matter movement stems from the reflection on the topics of liberty, justice, and social equality. Protests are the result of the authorities’ lack of initiative in resolving the systemic inequalities faced by African Americans and attempts of certain individuals to falsely claim that liberty for everyone has been already secured (Sumerau and Grollman, 2018). Smith did not avoid making political art; he intentionally engaged in activism and, as thousands of likes on his post with the “Reflect” image show, he received approval from his audience.
It demonstrates the fact that modern people, despite possessing technology that can help them escape real-life problems, continue to participate in the political process of their country. Such proactive behavior on the part of citizens leads to a demand for art that would amplify their message but in a different form. The major technological element here is social media which serves as a platform where people can exchange their opinions, find relevant information, and coordinate their actions. Smith uses his Instagram account as his gallery where he exhibits his artworks to attract the attention of people to the issues he raises with his images.
The digital artist is successful, and it is visible how his works are positively viewed by his audience. It reflects the widespread support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been on the rise for the past several years (Sawyer and Gampa, 2018). Additionally, Smith’s works possess other qualities, such as the ability to evoke feelings of the people who look at them. According to the artist himself, he tries to create art that “puts people in the shoes of someone they may not agree with” (Shemtov, 2021).
The “Reflect” is a perfect example of this idea. Despite the protests’ popularity, there is still a portion of people who do not approve of them. “Reflect” grants these people a chance to project the experience of a woman defending her rights onto themselves and thus gain an understanding of the Black Lives Matter movement’s ideology and motivations. Turning back to Baudrillard’s argument, “Reflect” put on public display on Instagram allows white people who have a privilege in society to envision themselves in position the of subjects of oppression. This outlook challenges Baudrillard’s view since technology here acts as a facilitator for reflection on the topic of social inequality, a deeply philosophical notion.
An Analysis of “Gotta Catch ’Em All” by Steve Cutts
Yet, there are also artists whose works capture the essence of Baudrillard’s argument and convey similar messages by highlighting the vices of modern society. Mass consumption, or, in other words, consumerism, has a significant negative impact on people’s lives and the environment. Technological progress has worsened the situation by generating millions of tons of highly-toxic electronic waste and emitting CO2 in large volumes, ultimately contributing to and accelerating climate change (Lewis, 2017). Yet, the environmental effect of mass consumption driven by technological advances is not the only major factor that needs to be addressed. Additionally, the widespread adoption of cheap communication devices such as mobile phones caused people to develop an addiction to them and their social media news feed.
Steve Cutts, a British digital illustrator, has made it his mission to emphasize the effects of mass consumption coupled with the availability of technologies on humanity in a satirical manner. His artwork “Gotta Catch ’Em All” demonstrates the harsh reality of today’s societies and the extreme desire of their members to escape their problems by immersing themselves in a virtual world. The image depicts several people marching in line and falling off a cliff while focused on playing their favorite mobile game. The particular game in question is Pokemon Go, an app that utilizes a relatively new technology of augmented reality.
There is also one of the main protagonists of the game, Pikachu, who, in the image, invites the people to the abyss. This artwork is extremely metaphorical and conveys a multitude of messages, as well as meanings. Yet, the major problem covered by Cutts here is people’s inability to resist their temptation to consume content and entertainment, which has reached a pinnacle of absurdity in the form of video game addiction.
Moreover, whereas past generations were obsessed with buying kitchen utensils and other tangible products, the cravings of modern people do not exist in the actual reality and are non-physical. Essentially, with this artwork, Cutts illustrates the claims made by Baudrillard by painting the very people described by the philosopher. These individuals are the same since they do not have any qualities which would distinguish them from others.
The line in which they march also symbolizes their lack of perspective and shows that they are narrow-minded and unable to choose their way in life. Instead, they are driven by simple incentives provided to them by the game, which tells these individuals where they should go to score more points. These people’s absence of any conscious direction and the desire to avoid real-life ultimately leads them into the abyss of even stronger gaming addiction. It is possible to assume that here Cutts adds another point to Baudrillard’s argument. Namely, whereas the French philosopher states that technologies allow people to escape their problems, the artist contends that technologies ultimately lead to even worse outcomes for them.
Mass consumption depicted by Cutts is highlighted by the phenomenon of sameness of the individuals who cannot function without technology described by Baudrillard. As noted by Filip (2020, p. 119), mass consumption “is destructive to the free development of individual thoughts.” This means that people who engage in consumerism become ultimately shaped by the products they buy and use. Products intended for mass consumption have the task of becoming the object of desire for consumers to stimulate further sales. Technological progress amplified this process which is perfectly demonstrated by mobile games and the addiction they cause in users.
Studies dedicated to the topic of the effects of mobile gaming on mental health indicate that addiction to this kind of entertainment consistently entails social anxiety, loneliness, and depression (Wang, Sheng, and Wang, 2019). Essentially, Cutts draws the attention of his audience to this problem through his art and invites people to reflect on their relationship with gaming addiction or general over-reliance on their devices. He portrays the consequences a person faces when they become too involved in the consumption of mobile entertainment.
Mass consumption driven by technology rests on the idea that the consumer is constantly provided with new coveted objects which they can attain by paying their money for them. Baudrillard (1996) explained this process by saying that in the modern era, goods are no longer meant to be owned but produced and bought. Yet, this perpetual cycle of consumption does not have any ultimate objective, apart from the necessity to constantly accrue new objects. In the realm of mobile games, users pursue rare objects and earn points that are essentially meaningless but can stimulate players’ desire to achieve new heights.
This removes a person from the actual reality and their environment, relieving the pressure of personal and social surrounding them. As Baudrillard noted, technology does not require a person to employ and develop their intelligence since artificial mechanisms erase the necessity to do so. Yet, an individual who spends a substantial period engaging in the consumption of mobile entertainment further alienates themselves from their real life. As a result, they fall into the abyss of sameness and experience severe consequences.
Conclusion
In concluding, according to Baudrillard, technologies allow people to escape their problems but ultimately negatively impact their personality and intelligence. This notion is often explored in art by contemporary digital artists who both support this claim and provide evidence against it. The image “Reflect” by Nikkolas Smith, an American illustrator, confronts Baudrillard’s notion that technologies discourage intellectual work and encourage following the same thought patterns.
By using social media as his platform, Smith exhibits his work to draw attention to the problems of social inequality and systemic oppression of African Americans in the US. His work allows the audience to see a different perspective and stimulates them to reflect on the topics of liberty and equality. On the other hand, Steve Cutts, a British digital illustrator, in his work “Gotta Catch ’Em All,” conveys a message similar to the one promoted by Baudrillard. Essentially, he contends that the modern mass consumption amplified by technological progress has negatively impacted people and their lives. Addiction to the consumption of virtual entertainment allows people to escape their problems but eventually leads to the erosion of their unique personalities.
Reference List
Baudrillard, J. (1993) The transparency of evil. New York: Verso.
Baudrillard, J. (1996) The System of objects. New York: Verso.
Filip, B. (2020) The rise of mass consumption: when irrationality is considered rational. London: Palgrave.
Hughes, C. and Southern, A. (2000) ‘The world of work and the crisis of capitalism: Marx and the Fourth Industrial Revolution’, Journal of Classical Sociology, 19(1), pp.59–71. Web.
Kelly, Y., Zilanawala, A., Booker, C. and Sackera, A. (2018) ‘Social media use and adolescent mental health: findings from the UK millennium cohort study’, EClinical Medicine, 6, pp.59–68. Web.
Lewis, J. (2017) ‘Digital desires: mediated consumerism and climate crisis’, in Brevini, B. and Murdock, G. (eds.) Carbon capitalism and communication. London: Palgrave, pp. 57–69.
Sawyer, J. and Gampa, A. (2018) ‘Implicit and explicit racial attitudes changed during Black Lives Matter’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(7), pp.1039–1059. Web.
Shemtov, E. (2020) ‘Nikkolas Smith: activism and the images that bind us’. T Art Magazine, 2
Sumerau, J. E. and Grollman, E. A. (2018) ‘Obscuring oppression: racism, cissexism, and the persistence of social inequality’, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 4(3), pp.322–337. Web.
Wang, J. L., Sheng, J. R., and Wang, H. Z. (2019) ‘The association between mobile game addiction and depression, social anxiety, and loneliness’, Frontiers in Public Health, 7, pp.1–6. Web.
Although the experiences gained in early childhood are remembered vaguely, at best, they often set the tone and even stylistic choices made by artists. The goal of this paper is to study how early childhood memories affect one’s artistic journey. Specifically, the reciprocal influence that early childhood memories produce on artists and how they imbue artists’ works with implied meanings will be scrutinized. Due to the formative effect that childhood experiences have on people, they affect one’s self-expression, thus leaving their footprint on the artistic style, themes, and subjects of one’s art, as one may see in myriads of art pieces.
The impact that early childhood memories have on artists’ expressive style and the themes that emerge in their artworks becomes clearly visible once considering some of the specimens of art. In fact, the necessity to return to one’s childhood memories as a source of artistic inspiration can be fully conscious, guided, and therapeutic. According to the study by Bazargan and Pakdaman (2016), art therapy based on reconciling with one’s childhood memories can be a pathway to addressing issues such as anxiety and depression.
The reason for childhood memories to have such profound importance for the development of one’s artistic style and attributes can be explained by the acquisition of the executive function that occurs during early childhood. Indeed, Moriguchi, Chevalier, and Zelazo (2016) explain that cognitive flexibility, which is a crucial part of the executive function, allows one to process information and incorporate it into one’s perception of reality.
Reference List
Bazargan, Y & Pakdaman, S 2016, ‘The effectiveness of art therapy in reducing internalizing and externalizing problems of female adolescents’, Archives of Iranian Medicine (AIM), vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 51-56.
Birn, RM, Roeber, BJ & Pollak, SD 2017, ‘Early childhood stress exposure, reward pathways, and adult decision making’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, no. 51, pp. 13549-13554.
Chalkou, M. (2019). Childhood memories, family life, nostalgia, and historical trauma in contemporary Greek cinema. Retelling the Past in Contemporary Greek Literature, Film, and Popular Culture, vol. 185, no. 1, pp. 185-200.
Moriguchi, Y, Chevalier, N & Zelazo, PD 2016, ‘Development of executive function during childhood,’ Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 6.
Theodotou, E 2017, ‘Literacy as a social practice in the early years and the effects of the arts: a case study’, International Journal of Early Years Education, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 143-155.
Thomson, P & Jaque, SV 2018, ‘Childhood adversity and the creative experience in adult professional performing artists’, Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1-10. Web.
Zarobe, L & Bungay, H 2017, ‘The role of arts activities in developing resilience and mental wellbeing in children and young people a rapid review of the literature’, Perspectives in Public Health, vol. 137, no. 6, pp. 337-347.
Annotated Bibliography
Bazargan, Y & Pakdaman, S 2016, ‘The effectiveness of art therapy in reducing internalizing and externalizing problems of female adolescents’, Archives of Iranian Medicine (AIM), vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 51-56.
The authors of this article examine the approaches toward addressing mental health issues that female adolescent patients experience due to the presence of stress factors in their lives. The research seeks to answer whether art has any effect on mental health functions of the target population, including their cognitive functions and memory. According to the results of the study, the connection between art therapy and improvement in memory skills and cognitive abilities is evident. The fact that the article focuses on a single hypothesis and analyzes it in depth is its obvious strength.
The close attention to detail that the approach used by Bazargan and Pakdaman (2016) use makes the study focused and allow the researchers to tackle the issue directly. However, the research suffers from the use of the targeted sampling approach due to the challenges that it creates for results generalizability. The study can be used to extrapolate the connection between memory mechanisms and art.
Birn, RM, Roeber, BJ & Pollak, SD 2017, ‘Early childhood stress exposure, reward pathways, and adult decision making’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, no. 51, pp. 13549-13554.
The research provides a general account of how memories shape one’s journey as an adult. According to the results of the study, even the memories that may seem to relate to the childhood that is far too early to be remembered, they remain deep-seated motives for choices in adulthood. Therefore, the article provides the foil for the discussion of how the issues experienced in childhood affect one’s adult life.
Chalkou, M. (2019). Childhood memories, family life, nostalgia, and historical trauma in contemporary Greek cinema. Retelling the Past in Contemporary Greek Literature, Film, and Popular Culture, vol. 185, no. 1, pp. 185-200.
Being another research that considers the effects of childhood memories on one’s life as an adult, the study covers the impact that painful early childhood experiences have on the creation of movies as an art form. According to the study, the use of the coming-of-age-story trope, the authors are trying to cope with their negative childhood experiences and manage the memories thereof, which often translate into the collective trauma. Since the paper views art through the lens of childhood experiences and the related memories, it fits the general narrative of childhood memories shaping the artistic development of adults perfectly. Therefore, it can be used to support the key claims of this paper.
Moriguchi, Y, Chevalier, N & Zelazo, PD 2016, ‘Development of executive function during childhood,’ Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 6.
Being a component of the phenomenon known as the executive function, memory provides one with an opportunity to gain experience and infer important life lessons from them. Therefore, to study the effects that early childhood memories have on artists, one will need to consider the influence that they have on adults, in general. In their research, Moriguchi, Chevalier, and Zelazo consider the mechanisms of developing the executive function as the platform for gaining critical memory skills. The research proves that the memories acquired during childhood shape one’s further philosophy and values extensively.
Theodotou, E 2017, ‘Literacy as a social practice in the early years and the effects of the arts: a case study’, International Journal of Early Years Education, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 143-155.
In her study, Theodotou analyzes the effects that arts have on one’s early childhood development and especially on shaping one’s literacy. The research results indicate that the link between literacy and art is explicitly direct. The paper by Theodotou shows that the connection between art and early childhood memories is reciprocal since literacy provides the basis for social practices and especially the development of communication skills. Therefore, the authors infer that early childhood memories may affect one’s artistic expression significantly. The article can be used to prove that early childhood literacy and art are interconnected.
Thomson, P & Jaque, SV 2018, ‘Childhood adversity and the creative experience in adult professional performing artists’, Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1-10. Web.
The paper by Thomson and Jaque (2018) points to the need to effects that negative childhood memories have on one’s artistic potential. The paper argues that high levels of childhood adversity experienced by artists in the past may cause them to develop issues such as internalized shame. Similarly, anxiety problems may be observed in the artists that were exposed to violence and abuse as children. The key strength of the research comes from its ability to address several mental health issues in artists simultaneously. However, the fact that the sample contains inherent biases preventing the study results from gaining enough generalizability is its weakness.
Zarobe, L & Bungay, H 2017, ‘The role of arts activities in developing resilience and mental wellbeing in children and young people a rapid review of the literature’, Perspectives in Public Health, vol. 137, no. 6, pp. 337-347.
The research examines the concept of childhood and the part that art plays in it. Therefore, important information about the factors that shape one’s artistic development can be drawn from it. The study will provide the background for this paper as the insightful exploration of artistic expression as the means of coping with one’s emotional issues.
There are so many writers and artists, who share their talents and ideas with other people and help to comprehend this life better and properly. The role of an artist is not that easy indeed: so many things have to be taken into consideration, and so many facts should be used in order to make a work really significant.
Anna Deavere Smith is one of those artists, who not only analyze current situations and criticize someone, but also clearly define own functions and abilities. Such approach to work makes her worthy of this world and interesting to her readers. In her “Introduction” to Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, she introduces her work, identifies the purposes of this writing, and also speculates upon her own role as an artist in this world.
In comparison to one literary character, Tod Hackett from The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West, Anna Deavere Smith does not want to lose her mind and be guided by the current events; she is ready to prove her points of view and do everything possible to achieve her purposes and be interesting for her readers.
In order to create Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Anna Deavere Smith conducted more than 170 interviews and presented captivating facts about the unrest, which happened in Los Angeles during the April, 1992. In the introductory part of the work, the author admits that “Theater can mirror society. But in order to do so theater must embrace diversity.” (Smith, xviii) This is why in order to become a sophisticated writer, it is crucially important to be original and use own potential to its full extend.
Anna Deavere Smith makes a wonderful attempt to present what her work will be all about, and her explanation helps to create more or less concrete picture about her attitudes to work and her preferences. “Basing my scripts entirely on this interview material, I perform the interviews on stage using their own words.” (Smith, xvii) So, the reader gets a clear understanding that Smith is not going to describe or portray something.
She concentrates more on performance but not on describing and using her own ideas. It is not a sign that she is not able to create something own. This approach to the work underlines another point – she is mature enough to combine the ideas of absolutely different people, present a valuable source of information, and amaze the reader. To my mind, her attention to the details and the ways information is presented say a lot about her professionalism and writing abilities.
What is most influences my decisions about what to include is how an interview text works as physical, audible, performable vehicle. Words are not an end in themselves. They are means to evoking the character of the person who spoke them. every person that I include in the book, and who I perform, has a presence that is much more important than the information they give. (Smith, xxviii-xxiv)
She does care about the reader and tries to take into consideration various points of view. Anna Deavere Smith values her role as an artist as a very significant point, because it is important to be able to speak and consider other standpoints and introduce these flows of ideas to people, who are interested.
Smith considers herself as an observe and should follow certain traditions and style, but still, she is ready to prove, reader to show, and ready to share her abilities with the other in the sphere she likes most of all. In comparison to Anna Deavere Smith, Tod Hackett is considered to be a bit weak person, who does not want to use all his potential in order to achieve the desirable purpose.
This is why Anna Smith and Tod are two antonymic characters in literature, who comprehend the role of an artist in absolutely different ways and, at the same time, provide the reader with an opportunity to analyze art and literature from different perspectives. Tod Hackett is not a writer, but painter.
He comes to Hollywood in order to create, but has to work as an illustrator in one studio. “Despite of his appearance, he was really a very complicated young man with a whole set of personalities, one inside the other like a nest of Chinese boxes.” (West, 2) Tod’s consciousness is not that easy to comprehend, and his ideas turn out to be rather captivating for the reader.
In The Day of the Locust, Tod Hackett evaluates his role as an artist not that significant. He is suppressed with violence, inherent to Hollywood of the 1930s, he cannot concentrate on his personal desires and interests, and all his searching to become a successful painter are frustrating because of mutual degradation and commodification of romance and human beauty.
Violence and sexual attraction – this is what turns out to be crucially important for people. Tod defines his work to represent this angry and sad people, who are going to destroy the city they live in.
Physical discontent and power are combined within one and the same person. He is not ready to getting any power and controlling it, this is why his attitude to his place and role in this world as an artist is not that significant as Anna Deavere Smith’s is.
Evaluation of art and literature is one of the most difficult and interesting things for any writer. To my mind, art and literature are the things, which make this world better and safer.
With the help of various pieces of art, people get more opportunities to learn on someone’s mistakes and improve own life; to concentrate on some details and use such awareness in life; to find different ways to demonstrate feelings and be able to forgive.
I value literature and art because it provides me with a good choice to know more and even teaches me how to share my own feelings and abilities with the others. People should have a chance to be educated, and literature and art are one of the possible means to get education.
Without any doubts, the role of an artist is really great. In order to become a successful writer or painter, it is crucially important to evaluate the world and people around, take into consideration personal abilities and preferences, and be ready to prove own positions and points of view. Anna Deavere Smith presents a wonderful story, in the introduction of which, she values literature and her role in it, choosing different approaches, not inherent to all writers.
Tom Hackett, a character of The Day of the Locust, demonstrates another attitude to the role of an artist and proves that sometimes people may be changed by circumstances and do not find the necessary way out. Literature is something, the reader can learn from. Art helps us to concentrate on details and enjoy from any piece of this life. This is why it is very important to value literature and art and do anything possible to develop and improve it.
Works Cited
Smith, Anna, D. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Anchor, 1994.
West, Nathanael. The Day of the Locust. Buccaneer Books, 1981.
Khalil was a Lebanese-American writer and artist who made a significant contribution to the literary world. Khalil wrote several philosophical essays, novels, short stories, and mystical poems. In addition, he managed to produce several paintings and illustrations during the course of his career. Gibran was born in Bsharri an area that falls under the current geographical Lebanon.
Gibran was born in 1883 in a mountain village that was mostly inhabited by Maronite Catholics. Gibran’s mother was thirty years old when he was born and she had another son from a previous marriage. Gibran regarded his father as an ill-tempered man who never showed love and care towards his family. The writer’s family faced abject poverty mostly because of his father’s gambling habit.
In one occasion, all his family’s belongings were auctioned off to pay for Gabrin’s father gambling debts. His father was consequently jailed in 1884 after being unable to pay some of his gambling debts. After the family’s bankruptcy, Gibran’s mother Kamila decided to move to the United States with three of her children. Gibran’s mother settled in Boston together with a young Gibran, his two younger sisters, and his half brother.
After settling in Lebanon, Gibran’s mother made a living by selling linen and laces. In 1895, the young Khalil enrolled at a school in Boston. His school put him in an immigrant’s class where he could learn English. In addition, Gibran was able to enroll in a nearby art school. It was in this art school where he had the chance to meet Fred Holland.
Holland was a member of the European avant-garde-movement and he acted as a tutor and mentor to Gibran. Later on Gibran moved back to his home country where he studied at a Beirut college.
In college, he concentrated on Arab classics, Syrian novels, and Syrian poems. He also served as an editor for the college magazine. His return to Boston was marked by tragedy because he lost three members of his family within a period of one year.
Following this tragic loss, his remaining sister Marianna was the only person who maintained him as he sought to launch his career. Gibran spent his days scouring through the Boston society in search of valuable contacts. Later on, Gibran met Mary Haskell a local headmistress.
The relationship between Haskell and Gibran was both professional and personal. Letters that were exchanged between the two indicate that they were lovers although Haskell was ten years older than Gibran. Haskell acted as an editor for Gibran’s English publications and financed most of his early projects.
Gibran’s first official art exhibition was conducted at Boston’s Day Studio. The exhibition featured Gibran’s illustrations of spiritual allegories, and reviewers considered it a success. “Al-Musiqa” was the first book that Khalil published. The book talked about music and it was published in 1905. This publication was followed by a small novel and two short-story collections.
In 1908, Gibran moved to Paris to study art for two years. After his art studies in Paris, Gibran relocated to New York. During his stay in New York, Gibran was an avid contributor for several magazines. He also continued to paint with most of his painting featuring naked intertwined bodies.
Gibran’s early literary works were mostly written in Arabic. These early works are considered to be the pillars of modern Arab literature. The author drew his inspiration from both Lebanese and Boston influences. Some of his early publications offended some conservative audiences because they criticized the traditional Lebanese society. Around 1918, Gibran started writing almost exclusively in English.
Gibran was able to revolutionize the poetic language that was being used during his active period. By the year 1930, Gibran had already established himself as a literature icon. The author’s partnership with the Alfred Knopf Publishers resulted in the publication of several English books including “Madman”.
“Madman” was published in 1918 and it features a mixture of poetry and prose. In 1926, the author published “Sand and Foam” a book that did not achieve any major success. Gibran’s next publication “Jesus the Son of Man” was more successful than his previous productions.
Khalil Gibran’s style of writing usually utilized a philosophical prose that acted as a condemner of the evil that plagued the writer’s society. The writer did not possess any remarkable poetic abilities but he was still able to usher in a new method of writing. His writing resembled prose and it was almost addictive to its readers.
His most famous book is “Prophet” a book that features a prophetic personality who teaches people about the secrets of life. “Prophet” consists of 26 philosophical prose essays. This book is one of the best selling poetic books of all time. The book was particularly popular during the 1960s when the ‘new age’ wave hit America. Gibran died in 1931 from liver disease complications.
He was then buried in his homeland of Lebanon in accordance with his wishes. Several decades after his death, Gibran is still considered as one of the greatest poets that ever lived. Today, his poetry is still being read on several social occasions.
In Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself” (237-238), the poet says “Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin / of all poems.” This claim seems overly optimistic in that he claims the origins of ‘all poems’ can be discovered in a single day and night with a single poet. However, it does not seem such an astronomical claim when applied to the poet alone. For Whitman, the origin of his poems is found within his life and within the environments in which he finds himself. Realizing this is the origin of his own poems, Whitman may have extrapolated this concept to all poets in the above statement, suggesting that the origin of all poems is in the lives of the poets and the environment in which they find themselves. In attempting to discover whether this generic ‘origin’ of the poet’s life and environment might be true for all poets, it is helpful to take a look at the writings of others as well. By examining several poems by other well-known writers such as Elizabeth Bishop, Langston Hughes and Sylvia Plath, it should be possible to determine whether or not Whitman had a point.
Elizabeth Bishop is considered a contemporary poet. Her poems obviously originate from the environment she lives in as can be seen in her poems “The Man-Moth”, “The Fish”, “Filling Station” and “Pink Dog”. “The Man-Moth” is actually a poem that arose out of a misprint in the New York Times for the word “mammoth.” (Rzepka, 2001). For Bishop, this was a perfect example of the New York persona and an irresistible opportunity to poke a little fun at The Big Apple. Here, the Man-Moth “cannot tell the rate at which he travels backwards” (32) and “does not dare look out the window” (36). Through this descriptive language, she indicates the motion of individuals trapped within the city’s subways and patterns are not traveling forward, yet are not exactly traveling backward either. In “The Fish,” Bishop describes the perfect catch of a venerable old fish as she observes him hanging from her line. The fish hasn’t fought at all to prevent being reeled in and his skin hangs in strips “like ancient wallpaper” (11), the pattern reminding her of “full-blown roses / stained and lost through age” (14-15). However, this fish has a surprise for her in the five strands of fishing line seen dangling from its jaw.
After describing the very dirty conditions of a family filling station in “Filling Station” in which everything is “oil-soaked, oil-permeated / to a disturbing, over-all / black translucency” (3-5), Bishop finally arrives at some comic books that provide a little color as “They lie / upon a big dim doily / draping a taboret” (23-25). This doily has been “Embroidered in a daisy stitch, / with marguerites, I think” (31-32). Bishop observes that someone had to embroider the daisy, someone had to water the plant that sits next to it, yet that someone doesn’t seem to be affected by the overwhelming pervasiveness of the oil surrounding these things, even going so far as to arrange the oil cans “so that they softly say: / ESSO – SO – SO – SO / to high-strung automobiles” (38-40). In “The Pink Dog,” Bishop offers a stance on the ability of the individual to survive in modern society. By advising the dog to cover itself with a Carnival costume, the speaker in this poem is acknowledging that one cannot remain completely subjective in the modern-day world. Instead, it is necessary to take on the form and shape of the surrounding culture or “go bobbing in the ebbing sewage, nights / out in the suburbs, where there are no lights” (Bishop, 17-18). Without the costume, the reality of the individual proves too frightening for most as Bishop describes: “Of course, they’re mortally afraid of rabies, / You are not mad; you have a case of scabies / but look intelligent” (Bishop, 7-9). Any action that is different from the culturally prescribed action of the modern is viewed as crazy, different, bizarre, and undesirable. Through these poems, then, Bishop uses the world around her as an inspiration and origin for her poems.
Langston Hughes can also be seen to use the world around him as the origin of his poems, but the world he focuses on is the world as it has been experienced by black people trying to survive in a white man’s world. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Hughes manages to capture a sense of the long history and cultural memories that run through the people. “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow / of human blood in human veins” (2-3). By invoking locations such as the Euphrates, the Congo, and the Nile, Hughes takes his readers on a whirlwind journey from the birth of man to the deepest, darkest jungles to the birthplace of civilization itself, emphasizing all along that he has been there, “My soul has grown deep like the rivers” (4). In “Mother to Son,” Hughes depicts a mother as she explains to her son that her path through life “ain’t been no crystal stair” (2). The path has been scattered with numerous hazards that one would immediately recognize as dangerous within this context, including “splinters, / And boards torn up, / And places with no carpet on the floor” (4-6).
This struggle is envisioned to have a more positive future in “I, Too.” In this poem, Hughes discusses the treatment of the black man as it has been experienced in American until this point: “They send me to eat in the kitchen / When company comes” (3-4) but also indicates the emerging strength of the black nation as they began to experience greater human rights and more opportunity for education. “I laugh, / And eat well, / And grow strong” (5-7). While he expresses his outrage that he is still dismissed when the company comes, he is also exultant that it won’t be long until many of his brothers will be educated just like him and able to lift their unique voices to add to the cultural mix that is America. Finally, in “Jazzonia”, Hughes illustrates the lilting rhythm of the jazz player as it incorporates the sights and sounds of the cabaret and links it all with the history of Egypt and the Bible. The rhythm can be heard in lines such as “A dancing girl whose eyes are bold / Lifts high a dress of silken gold” (5-6). The repeated refrain, “Oh, silver tree! / Oh, shining rivers of the soul!” (1-2; 7-8; 14-15), brings to mind the rivers of his earlier works and the depth of the black soul in tracing its lineage through them. To Hughes, the world is comprised of the culture and experiences of the black man throughout history rather than the superficial events of everyday life.
Sylvia Plath’s world, in contrast, is much more constrained, existing almost entirely within her own body. One of her more famous poems, “Daddy”, is written in the first person as a letter to her father, who has been dead for 20 years. The story that emerges is of a woman who has lived in fear and awe of her father for as long as she can remember. The fear is evident in her metaphor of him as “Marble-heavy, a bag full of God, / Ghastly statue with one gray toe / Big as a Frisco seal” (8-10). Later, she compares her fear of her father to the fear the Jews felt for the Nazis, seeing herself as being shipped off to the concentration camps and describing her father’s appearance in terms of the perfect Aryan. Her beginning and end of the poem, each expressed in terms of anger and fear, leaves no doubt that her fear outweighed any other emotions she had of her father. In “Tulips”, which first appeared in Ariel, the author describes her metaphysical journey experienced during a stay at a hospital. Written in 1961 when Plath was admitted to the hospital for an appendectomy, the speaker of the poem is the hospital patient as she undergoes the surgical process. She is speaking more to herself than anyone, describing her experience as she first accepts the descent into oblivion and then awakens again to life. Although her world is found more within than without, the poet can still be seen to be speaking from her life and the environment she finds herself in.
All three of the poets examined here can be seen to take the origins of their poems from their lives and the world they find themselves in. Bishop is the most obvious about this, writing about typographical errors she sees in the newspaper, big catches out on the lake, old filling stations she happens to stop at, or a poor dog with scabies that gets stared at. However, Hughes also takes the origin of his poems from his life and environment as he illustrates the importance of heritage and culture to himself and the people he knows, the connections they draw between them, and the way that this affected him. Plath takes it to an even more personal level as she focuses almost exclusively on her own life, making only occasional links to the outside world as a means of providing context to her ideas. In making this discovery, it is possible to say that, if Whitman had it in mind that the origin of all poems comes from the life and environment of the poet, he was correct in making this tremendous claim.
Works Cited
Bishop, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Bishop: The Complete Poems 1927-1979. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1983.
Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Vintage Classics, 1995.
Plath, Sylvia. The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Poetry. 3rd Ed. Jahan Ramazani, Richard Ellmann & Robert O’Clair (eds.). New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2003.
The role of an artist has always remained a discussed issue; whether his/her activity was considered prestigious or, backwards, aimed at entertaining the crowd, the personality of an artist has always been perceived as that contrasted with the rest of the society; as that being separated from the concerns of the everyday life and minor, insignificant issues.
Not accidentally, the question of an artist’s role has often become an object of attention of artists themselves, in particular, writers: the interaction of an artist and the world around him/her has become a topic for a series of works of literature. In this paper, we will discuss A Hunger Artist (Kafka), the work of Franz Kafka, an outstanding German-language writer, that in an allegoric way depicts the role of an artist during the modernist period.
In the image of the protagonist of the story, Kafka depicts a modernist artist, misunderstood, marginalized, “infected” by a specific “melancholy” peculiar to the way modernist artists perceived life and the world around them, as well as observes how an artist interacts with the “addressees” of his/her artistic “message”, which is his/her works.
A Hunger Artist tells a reader about a specific genre of “art”, which is “professional fasting”: an artist performed his long-term fasting to numerous observers. Artist’s fasting was his way to express his ideas and share it with the observers (204-205). During a certain period, “professional fasting” was of big popularity awakening strong interest of the society, says Kafka; however, the story describes the period of the decline of the “genre” and its graduate “collapse”.
In the course of narration, not only does Kafka depict the act of fasting itself and observers’ reaction on it, but he also throws light upon the artist’s inner experience, which makes the story of particular value for a reader interested in history of art. In the personality of the hunger artist, we may notice the generalized character of a modernist artist, and in the actions of fasting, we may recognize the characteristics of modernism as an epoch in history of art.
Let us now discuss the peculiarities of modernism in culture and art to better understand the allegory of Kafka’s work. For the period of modernist culture, it was characteristic for art to be alienated from the everyday life, as well as from the majority of the “ordinary audience”; it is possible to say that the art was created by the “select few” and for the “select few” (Storey 182).
This was caused by certain academicism of modernist works of art, by complexity of ideas and the ways of expressing them with the means of art. If we try to create the generalized image of a modernist artist, we will imagine a misunderstood person whose ideas and concerns are far from those ordinary and everyday; a person whose feelings and thoughts are complicated and contradictory; thus, the inner world of an artist is the center of the modernist works.
It will be not an overstatement to call a modernist artist a “marginalized person”: on the one hand, he/she exists within a community and demonstrates his/her works to it; on the other hand, the actual distance between them is very big, and the artist does not “fit into” the community. Not accidentally, modernist works could be hardly appreciated by the majority of ordinary readers/viewers.
Moreover, it is interesting that this misunderstanding was peculiar to different strata of the society: while poorer people became not interested in modernist art because of insufficient education and background, the “elite” was also indifferent to the essence of the modernist works focusing on the form instead of content: Meier-Graefe writes, “The incomprehensibility of painting and sculpture to the general public has been shrouded in a veil of pretentious exposition” (Meier-Graefe 205); thus, modernist art was really “marginalized”, not fitting into the interest of different social groups.
These trends are allegorically depicted by Kafka in his work: we see a misunderstood hunger artist who has a complicated view on his calling and his “art”, which actually differs from that of the observers coming to see him; Kafka defines the artist’s state as “a condition hardly to be understood by well-fed people” (Kafka 208).
This distance between the interests of a “fasting” artist and the “well-fed” people is in fact the main tragedy in modernist art: while an artist focuses on a high idea that he delivers to the audience, the audience themselves are interested in “manners” rather than “matters” and aspire for being entertained. The embodiment of the artist’s position in his environment is the cage where he is placed.
On the one hand, his artistic will is “imprisoned” by the audience’s tastes and mood: the period of fasting lasts for forty days; then the “show” finishes, as the observers’ interest diminishes (206); on the other hand, the cage is a symbol of the artist’s marginalization and separateness from the rest of the society.
However, when we have discussed a modernist artist’s position relative to his audience, the question may arise: what is the cause of this marginalization? What makes the artist be “misunderstood” and “separated”: inner conflicts, disagreement with the world around him, or maybe, specific pride of an artist who wants to perform himself as “outstanding”, not clear for the rest?
No doubt, for Kafka this question is also of big significance; that is why, in his A Hunger Artist, he provides his own answer to it: being asked about the reason for his fasting, the artist says, “…Because I couldn’t find the food I liked. If I had found it, believe me, I should have made no fuss and stuffed myself like you or anyone else” (211).
Thus, we may conclude that the separateness of a modernist artist is of the dual nature: on the one hand, it is his choice to express his complicated ideas and thus to be a “marginalized person”; on the other hand, his opposition to the world is sincere and not feigned: the modernist era was the period of doubts, challenges, and testing the boundaries of all existing notions.
Thus, being in the constant condition of search, the artist was nevertheless not able to find the “food” he would really like. This circle gave birth to specific “melancholy” of a modernist artist; Kafka uses the allegory of the artists “melancholy… caused by fasting” (207).
Another interesting question is the destiny of the modernist art. In his work, Kafka touches upon this issue as well expressing his opinion in the allegorical end of the story: after trying himself as a fasting artist in a circus where people prefer to look at the animals rather than at him, the artist dies, and his cage is given to a young, strong panther (211).
Unlike the fasting artist, the panther awakens joy and brings good mood to the visitors of the circus. The “work” of a fasting artist turns out to be not “competitive” comparing to the animals kept in the circus. “Perhaps, said the hunger artist to himself, many a time, things would be a little better if his cage were set not quite so near the menagerie.
That made it too easy for people to make their choice”, with this quotation, Kafka reflects the mood of the crowd coming to the circus, and their expectations about the show. In fact, the end of the story reminds us about a change that took place in the middle of the 20th century: the “elitist” modernist culture is replaced by popular culture, and then by postmodernist culture.
As a result, the borders between commercial and not commercial, “high” and “low” culture are eliminated; culture is now neighboring to the everyday life and is thus accessible for ordinary people. The fusion of art and entertainment is not bad manners any more (Storey 183-185). The new, “popular culture” is similar to Kafka’s young panther; “The panther was all right”, says Kafka in the final sentences of his work (Kafka 211).
Understanding the real-life context of a work of literature always helps a reader better understand its idea; having touched upon the role of the artist in the modernist era, Kafka gives us opportunity to get the notion of the society of that period, and, what is the most interesting, of the inner experience of a modernist artist. Having chosen the allegorical way of expressing his ideas, Kafka nevertheless has depicted the characteristic features of modernist culture very precisely and eloquently.
Works Cited
Kafka, Franz. “A Hunger Artist.” The Tyranny of the Normal: An Anthology. Eds. Donley, Carol, and Sheryl Buckley. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1996. 204-211. Print.
Meier-Graefe, Julius. “The Development of Modern Art.” Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology. Eds. Frascina, Francis, and Charles Harrison. London: Paul Chapman, 1982. 205-209. Print.
Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. 5th ed. New York, London: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print.
A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce goes down in history as one of the most excellent books of literature. Although there are other characters in the book, the story is centered on Stephen Dedalus. He is raised in a staunch catholic home by his father, mother, Uncle Charles and Aunt Dante.
Other minor characters in the book are Stephen’s friends, the priests and Emma. Religion plays an important role in the book. It is a symbol of the state of Ireland during that period. Growing up, Stephen is dedicated to following the beliefs of the church. Later on, the protagonist rebels from his religion and adopts an extremely dangerous lifestyle of drinking and uniting his body with prostitutes.
After hearing the speech of a priest he cleans up his act and becomes extremely devoted to his religion again. The extreme lifestyle that Stephen adopts forces him to make a stand about his life. As the book comes to the end, we see Stephen moving on to a life of liberty outside Ireland (Joyce 247).
The most unique aspect of the book is the author’s innovative use of sense to describe the thoughts and feelings of the character. The author takes us on a journey of the transformation of the character’s mind. All the developments are internal. It is difficult to comprehend where conversation starts or ends due to lack of quotation inscription in the entire book (Joyce 6).
The senses capture how his mind develops from the thinking of a susceptible child who is pushed around by a bully to a defiant young man who wants nothing to do with his religion. The conflict in his mind between the search for fulfillment in his gifting and pleasing his family is drawn out using sense. What Stephen hears, sees, touches, smells and tastes affects how his mind responds to life.
Discussion
Hearing
Sense is illustrated by what Stephen hears from his parents, relatives, governess, priests and friends. The story begins with Mr. Dedalus singing to his son (Joyce 7). Music is presented ubiquitously in the backdrop of the story. His mother also played the piano so he could dance.
At the same time, the conversations that Stephen heard at family dinners influenced his upbringing. During Christmas break, he was allowed to eat with the adults. At dinner, an argument erupted between his father and Aunt Dante; this argument exposed the young boy to politics (Joyce 31).
In the same sitting, his father forgot his presence at the table and spoke bad language. Furthermore, the words that Stephen heard from Aunt Dante had great influence on him. When Stephen expressed a desire to marry Eileen their protestant neighbor, his mother and aunt were very furious. Aunt Dante threatened that if Stephen did not apologize then the eagles would pluck off his eyes. This statement frightened the young boy.
Stephen reflected on the lyrics and tunes of different song throughout the story. His attitude and his thoughts are influenced by the words of the several songs. For example, as he was thinking about whether he should be part of Jesuits, he is dazed at how the local priest acts in response to a song playing from the road.
What he heard and saw made him realize that he could not become a priest (Joyce 80). In the last chapter, Stephen’s determination to find purpose through writing is reinforced. He feels a sense of peace when he hears a song done by a certain woman (Joyce 260). The words of the song prompt him to follow his decision to leave his country and pursue his talent.
Seeing
Vision plays a significant role in the mind of the protagonist. The images that Stephen sees affect his interaction with his father. When his father gazes at him through a glass, he looks like his face is covered with hair. This picture makes Stephen realize that he is losing his connection with his father.
Likewise, in the first chapter, there are two colors mentioned that are symbolic of influential people in the Irish nationalist movement. These colors are green and maroon. It is fascinating how the character commits to memory seeing Aunt Dante tearing the green part off while telling him that the leader is a terrible man. This incidence was followed by constant argument between his father and his aunty about politics (Joyce 20). When he later sees the color green together with maroon in a map he is confused as he tries to take sides.
As a child, Stephen’s visual understanding of color is also tested in a math contest. In this competition there are two opposing teams red and white. What he sees represents conflict. During his struggle to find a balance in his religious life, he sees a young woman walking along the beach.
The picture of this woman represents righteousness. He therefore makes a resolution to celebrate his existence and appreciate mankind. Another example is the picture of a skull he sees in church. The skull is a representation of the death of Christ. The skull relates the sacrifice of Christ to the priesthood calling.
Similarly, the sense of vision is strongly demonstrated when the Dedalus family shifts to Dublin. Stephen contrasts the clean countryside they had left with the dirty city full of scum. In chapter five, Stephen watches birds flying from the university library and relates it to freedom (Joyce 250).
He observes the outline created by birds in the sky and imagines what the future holds for him. Vision is once again demonstrated in chapter two; Stephen is frustrated as he observes his family’s financial position going downhill. Likewise, he is depressed that his uncle can no longer walk with him because his body is growing frail.
Touch
Touch has been used in the book to demonstrate emotional and physical feelings. When he woke up sick after being pushed in a pool of dirty water, the prefect felt his forehead to verify that he was sick. His forehead felt hot and damp (Joyce 13). Both physical and emotional pain is expressed by the character in school.
He thought the school prefect would be understanding and shake his hands after he was excused from class. However, the prefect gave him a beating instead. Stephen was disappointed, humiliated and frustrated by this turn of events. Another good example of emotional feeling is shown following Stephen’s rebellion; he listens to a sermon that causes him to think about his eternity as a sinner. He experiences fear when he thinks about the consequences of the sins he had committed.
To show how repentant he was, Stephen exercised disciplines such as carrying rosary beads in his pocket so he could feel them as he went about his duties. Touch is shown in chapter two when the young Dedalus spends time with his father moving from one bar to another. He is ashamed at how his father’s drinking has made him disconnect with realism. Similarly, this feeling of failure drives him to spend the night with a prostitute after he realizes that his prize money was not enough to bring his family together.
Smell
In the initial sections of the book, smell is used to depict the affection of a young boy. Stephen reveals how his mother’s scent was nicer than his father. As a child he also remembers wetting his bed and the smell of the oil sheet his mother put on his bed whenever he wet his bed.
Additionally, the sense of smell has been used to bring out the feeling Stephen had when he was about to be sick after being thrown in a pool by the school bully. The water was cold, filthy and smelly. Amazingly, the smell of his first Christian dinner was engraved in his mind.
The smell of turkey and celery made him feel so happy (Joyce 15). In addition, Stephen was able to distinguish the smell in the chapel and the smell of the old deprived people who knelt at the church during mass. The sense of smell is illustrated in chapter three when the preacher described hell as a stinking prison full of demons.
Taste
Food was used as a distraction during dinner. Mr. Dedalus forgot that his son was sitting by the table and was about to use improper language. On realizing his mistake he responded by heaping food on Stephen’s plate and serving the rest large portions of turkey.
The sense of taste is moreover illustrated in chapter three, Stephen is in class daydreaming about the delicious food he desired to have after school. His thoughts were focused on the tasty mutton stew served with potatoes and carrots. The final example of taste is exemplified in the last chapter. Stephen is frustrated with the financial state of his family after eating a poor meal.
Conclusion
The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is centered on the development of the mind of Stephen Dedalus from a young susceptible boy to a strong willed man. Sense has been used to describe the thoughts going through the mind of the character. These senses include; hearing, seeing, touch, smell and taste.
Works Cited
Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Hertfordshire: The Egoist ltd, 1992.
Patti Smith grew up in a poor family but her parents showed her the parental love that children deserve. Despite the fact that she dropped out of college, her knowledge for symbolic poetry was admirable. She spent most of her youthful years trying to discover herself.
She dreamt of becoming a star as opposed to an artist and worked hard to first become a muse before following her dream of being an artist. Smith had no ego and this made her to dedicate her time and energy in ensuring that the people she interacted with succeeded in whatever they did (Seattlepi 6).
She became widely recognized in the 70s due to her ability to merge rock music and poetry. Her album entitled Horses was rated as one of the best albums ever released in the world of music. Her first show of the drawings she made was in 1973 at Gotham book Mart. Since 1978, Robert Miller Gallery represented her works.
In 2008, the Foundation Cartier Pour located in Paris exhibited some of her photographs, drawings and installations. In 2005, she was given the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, which is a famous title by the ministry of culture in France, a prestigious honor to be accorded an artist by the French government.
In addition, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame took her as one of its members in 2007. Smith got married to her late husband Fred smith in 1980 and had two children. She currently lives in New York where she is involved in different things including performing, writing and engaging in visual art (White 5).
The book ‘Just kids’ by Smith is a well written book that talks about her youthful days with Robert Mapplethorpe, whom she describes as an artist of her life. It is a combination of a memoir and an elegy shedding light on the interesting way of life in the New York City in the late 60s and 70s.
The book also presents the lives of two artists characterized by unique sensibilities. Patti and Robert grew up in families that upheld strict religious doctrines but the church encounters affected them differently. The church experiences for Patti worked to give her a better understanding of her work and a starting point since she could pray the way she wanted. Robert on the other hand could not find peace in the religion which partially contributed towards his secret sexuality.
Robert became Patti’s reliable friend for a short duration of time. He gave Patti creative encouragement and though he might not have been the person Patti had chosen, he remained a soul mate to Patti. Patti went through a difficult life when she first landed in New York City as a naïve girl from the suburbs.
She had no money and experienced firsthand how her friends were destroyed by drugs. The musical stars who continued losing their lives in the 60s and the appearance of gay figures were some of the experiences that Patti went through every day. She was oblivious of the sexuality of Robert who was among the people who were ready to do anything in order to achieve the star status (Patti, 86).
For most young artists, there were places and particular periods of time that remained significant to them. Chelsea Hotel was one such place where Patti spent time with Robert and got a chance to meet other idols. While in the hotel, she witnessed the deaths of many idols who had become her friends but she did not think that what happened to her friends could happen to Robert and her.
The 60s and 70s experiences of a young girl who turned an artist are brought to life through the story of Patti in the book. She remembers most of the things that took place in the New York City in those days and although many changes occurred, the history of the city remained intact.
Patti never thought of disclosing to anybody the change that had occurred in her relationship with Robert but she discovered that it was important for her to find something different. She still loved even when they drifted apart with Robert. Robert might also have been uncomfortable with Patti’s new boy friend but he never judged her. Patti and Robert kept on encouraging each another and remained true to themselves (Pajiba 10).
Eventually, Patti and Robert had to live separately since their lives and art were going different ways. The band Patti had established was succeeding and she started making tours. Robert remained in New York and through the assistance he got from a prosperous patron, he fully dedicated his time to photography.
He resolved to apply meticulous elegance on all his works regardless of their nature. Patti did not always relate to the subject matters that Robert dealt with but she understood why he never stopped doing it. She appreciated the fact that he never did whatever he was doing for the sake of it.
Patti vowed to take care of Robert since their early lives as kids and continued protecting him. As the book comes to an end, the final days of Robert and Patti are highlighted before Robert succumbed to AIDs in 1989. It is evident that he remains an important person to Patti throughout the book. She narrates Robert’s legacy in an eloquent manner through the sharp memories and stories that evoke the feelings of the reader.
Works Cited
Pajiba. Just Kids by Patti Smith. 2011. Web.
Patti, Smith. Just Kids. New York: Ecco, 2010.Print
Seattlepi. Book Review: Just Kids by Patti Smith. 2011. Web.
White, Edmund. Just Kids by Patti Smith. 2010. Web.