Urgent Honest Politicized

“The citizens of the united states are not living on a separate planet!” –Screams an activist in Durban South Africa at the climate change conference. He is screaming with an honesty, with an urgency, that I find generally unparalleled in the art world.

When I hear the urgency in the voices of protesters it is so much more compelling than any TV show suspense, or the apathetic apolitical whines of an indie rock band, or the glossy posturing of the world I mostly see around me. Because unless we’re talking about something that really matters onstage, the urgency doesn’t deliver. I say this of myself, i take this on for myself. I never had any intention of making art for art’s sake. I never had any intention of becoming an apolitical artist or musician. If the honesty I try to express through my dancing or my singing is growing disingenuous I see clearly ahead the need to strive for that place where my words are burning through the souls of those who hear me. Where my words and actions are disturbing because they are brave.

That’s the real space of honesty that I hope I can better approximate as I try to become a better artist.

Tuscany

8 December 2011

– www.alfabus.us

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