Corporate Windmills

I believe that McLuhan's quote can be interpreted in various ways. First of all, artists, with their talent and creativity, can voice their ideas and opinions in their art creations. Although a work of art is seldom completely original, as we are influenced by every book, painting, and idea that we have previously encountered, we can still gain great insight by contemplating art. These previously studied ideas and art forms float around in our minds and cause us to think of new ideas. By putting these ideas and thoughts into a painting or another art form, the artists share them with the world. These ideas can influence people to see things in a different way; art sheds a new light on previously used ideas, causing them to affect the world in new ways. Our society should use art in order to become more openminded about new ideas that could help our planet. The most creative people flourish in the realm of the arts, so why not use these people to help our community and society to flourish? And yes, through these ideas and insights I think that sometimes an artist can make a semi-accurate prediction on what will happen in the world. For example, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was written in the early 1800's, and could be said to have predicted organ transplants and other innovative health procedures and research.

Second, although I believe that artists could be vastly influential on our changing planet, I also agree with Mitchel's post, when he says that artists are more like philosophers, and should not be labeled as a sort of prophet. I do not think that writers and painters write novels or paint pictures with the idea that they are predicting the future. I think that sometimes it is a calculated coincidence. I do believe though, that the media plays a huge role in influencing our daily lives. An example is the two pictures shown on this blog. The first one shows windmills made of corporate logos. This shows how our society is revolving around these corporations in an endless circle, like a windmill. This picture does act as an "early alarm" to warn us that we should not become so dependent on brands, spending, and corporations, lest they start to rule our lives and become our "source of power," almost like a windmill. In summary, I believe that artists can anticipate future developments, but their works of art should not be viewed as completely prophetic.