corporate windmills

Running off the idea that art serves as an 'early alarm system', I personally liked the quote from Ezra Pound in saying that 'artists are the antenna of the race'. It made sense to me as a metaphor of a bug; say a butterfly, or comparable insect. The artists must be progressive in their thinking and lead the rest of society (the body of the insect) onwards. This also ties metaphorically directly into art acting as an early alarm system; warning to dangers that society itself may be approaching. I know it may seem cliché, however I feel it is presented much clearer when written. Art, and most specifically artists I feel are the foundations of that alarm system. I feel that art has, in many cases, started changes in modern thinking, i.e. the 'vanishing point' that we discussed in class. I agree with BrandonDay in that artists are most likely not born with an inborn sense of what is to come to help save us from ourselves, but I do feel that society has a tendency to follow or be closely related to the artwork of the time it is represented by.

It seems to me, that the art itself may not be a direct alarm system as would be typically thought of, but it is an alarm system that is masked by the art. I feel that the art is a matter of self-expression, however, that it is still a solidified media that has the potential to be a predictor of what is to come. I think that this is nearly the entire purpose of art; self-expression that leaves interpretation up to the individual whom is gazing at its content. This I feel is where the art, is subject to a quote we discussed in class, “the content of a medium is always another medium”. The art is obviously considered a medium, but as a culmination of other ideas, concepts, and mediums from the life of the artist, it is just that. Its true content and meaning will only be known by the artist, making what it is ‘alarming us as a society to’, any one of millions of ideas that can be expressed by the countless individuals who will see the art, and immediately make their own assumptions as to what it means. In this sense, art is like an antenna, in that it feels around for ideas as to what is in front of it, rather than using eyes to know exactly what is to come. The art is feeling for ideas rather than clearly expressing itself as a direct precursor for our future as a society.