rustypanther13
Member
19 messages
joined Jul 2020
Boris Vlastelica from Tutor has spoken, and I have to admit, I am quite uncomfortably surprised. This is Bor Corba for the 21st Century.
"They say an artist’s duty is to condemn every war, but in my view, an artist’s true responsibility is to deeply, fundamentally understand everything they intend to condemn or comment upon. They need to grasp the nuances, to hold the perspectives of all conflicting sides in their hands, rather than simply latching onto a passing sentiment or following the path of least resistance through superficial understanding—which is how it usually goes. This is especially vital when one intends to compose songs or stage actions regarding matters where people are actually dying.
We ought to be aware that rock music, and indeed pop music in general—all the popular music since the 1960s—is inextricably linked to the Cold War and the ideological struggle between the East and the West in which it was born. Rock and Roll served as one of the most significant proxy agents for capitalism. In a sense, it was an advertisement for capitalism. It didn't originate that way; it was created by Black Americans, then co-opted by Elvis Presley 🙂, but eventually, it was absorbed by the market and promoted globally as the voice of individual freedom for a new baby boomer—someone who feels no obligation to society, who demands total autonomy, driven by an anti-intellectual, youthful, sexual impulse, and an infantile rebellion against every collective or authority. And then, you see bands like The Scorpions playing on Red Square as a symbol of capitalist victory...
That is how the cultural wings of empires operate. That is how an unconscious ideological code, which has been consuming us for thirty years, is so easily fed to the youth. The Foucaultian end of history and the liberal equilibrium that some believed would last forever has been terminated by this Russian act. Personally, I welcome this, and I welcome the closing of the chapter on this eight-year war where far too many civilians were killed under a shroud of media silence while I watched and suffered. People were under artillery fire, burned alive, crucified by what were, quite literally, Nazi-style paramilitary groups from Ukraine—not to mention the children's graves. I find myself unable to believe the tears shed by the West, people who only join the fray once the media has explicitly incited them, creating an atmosphere where they feel compelled to take a stand regardless of whether they followed the events or had any inkling of what transpired before they decided to get involved.
And anyone who fails to grasp this ends up as either a useful idiot or a candidate for the most superficial 'peace in the world' or 'artist' titles. Peace can kill just as effectively, if not more so, than war sometimes. Especially Pax Americana."