Happy Thursday!
Earlier this week, I had a chance to sit down with Dewey Crumpler, an artist, professor, and prophetic voice on this moment in America. Now I want to hear what you think.
During our conversation, Dewey said that “art is infested with power.” Great works of art “become the thing the powerful can call on when they need to distract.”
This is precisely what makes the artist’s job urgent, Dewey explained.
Part of the reason you have to keep making is because they're going to try to co-opt your power. You have to transform to push the power even deeper and farther away because that's art's job. That's what art will do because art is never casual. Art is always powerful. Art is not about pretty shit. Art is about beauty, not pretty shit, because beauty is not pretty.
What artists have you come across that are up to this task? Which artists successfully challenge power, and how do they do it?
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