9.5 Theses on Art and Politics
The ethics of pursuing classical music in a world on fire.
1. The ethics of pursuing classical music in a world on fire
“What are the ethics of pursuing classical music in a world on fire?” reads a recent Instagram post from one of my new favorite accounts, @teatroallaflopera. “What are the ethical ramifications of pursuing a career within an industry that is quite comfortable creating ‘art’ — work that is beautiful, but routinely avoids confronting the current state of the world?”
The obvious answer is that art is not a form of avoidance. “Beauty,” writes Andre Bréton, “consists of jolts and shocks, many of which do not have much importance, but which we know are destined to produce one Shock, which does…Beauty will be convulsive, or will not be at all.”
Where we’ve lost the thread is in the capacity for convulsive beauty. The problem, as Flopera points out, isn’t with the art: It’s with the institutions that have become gatekeepers of that art.
This came to mind last …
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