sara gevurtz' - cutting things up

While reading “Cutting Things Up,” I felt like it was summarizing part of the reason I switch from science to art. Cragg says “Art puts itself outside of the norms and standards which are binding for most people and become a testing ground for new forms and new meanings.” (page 145) It was interesting to me that Cragg discusses science and politicians in comparison to art. I come from a background in science and politics. (I had some irrational desire to do environmental policy work, until I finally did an internship, which cured me of that idea.)

Science is an interesting beast. Depending on what secure of science you reside in, there is either little funding or tons. And with that funding comes restrictions. I personally was interested in the environment and ecology, which is on the little funding side of the spectrum. And of course when you throw politics into the equation, you find out that there is little desire to spend any big dollars to fund ecological research. One has to fund other more important spending projects. Artists on the other hand have freedom in what they choose to do.

Cragg discusses Da Vinci and Picasso. Ignoring Picasso, and sticking with the example of Da Vinci reminds us that artists were once sometimes referred to as “Renascence men,” in the sense that they studied everything. They studied science, medicine, art, etc. Men like Da Vinci were not boxed into one field. I personally feel that art and science go very well with each other. Art can be a form of experimentation, without the government restrictions based on who is footing the bill. “Artists rarely run away from the realities of the larger social and political issues. On the contrary, for those of us who feel outside of or, skeptical about the way in which politicians and others leads us into the future, art is a forum for real alternative thought and material solutions.” (page 145)

Cragg finishes by saying “One thing is for sure, the shape of the future is much too important to just leave to businessmen and politicians to decide upon it.” (page 147) It seems easy to forget that nothing exists separate of anything else. Nothing exists in a vacuum. That includes art. Art responds to the environment in which it was created. I make art that deals with environmental issues because I not only have a degree in ecology, but because I live in a political and social environment that is grappling with the consequences the industrial revolution and a consumer throwaway society that is always hunting for the newest gadget. Unlike Da Vinci, we have become divorced from the natural world, and grow up in suburbs driving SUVs.

Now, I am not going to argue that art will have the answers. I know that I don’t have the answers. However, what I felt Cragg was encouraging was unrestricted experimentation. And we as artists have the luxury to do exactly that.