*Click on images to find sources.
Addendum: Walter Benjamin equates dehistoricized art with fascism and art returned to historical context with communism. What remains clear is that art and the artist, particularly in the digital age, have little say in how art (and image) is received by the public. The battle over retaining historical context is fought and lost every day. The other day I displayed an image of the 2017 Women’s March to my students. I asked them what the protesters’ pink hats, ears and all, symbolized. One student answered, “Women wear pink.”
The Untimely Typewriter:Daily Writings Against the Tides of Distraction 
Naa, women wear red hats. At least those around Richmond. VA who also work a pastel purple dress to go along with the Red Hats. Of which I know nothing about, other than it was a women’s gropu.
Art is really finiky in a way. True art encompasses almost all of life when one thinks about it. There is much more to art than drawing, painting, sculpture, music, etc. Each and every aspect seems to be as personal as which typewriter I like better than the other or which selection of music I choose to play or to listen. Even which instrument I choose, trumpet, keyboard, Moog or Theremin. Yep, I’m reliving high school & building a Theremin.
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Hope that protest doesn’t erupt in violence tomorrow. White supremacists showing up to a gun’s rights rally on MLK Day. Classy stuff.
Theremins are dangerous. As a kid, I sat in front of the TV to watch Doctor Who. The music hypnotized me. Even today, when I hear the theme music, my eyes glaze over in sci-fi excitement.
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If I still lived in VA I’d be there. What the Governor wants is absolutely ridiculous. I read the law and it will never fly in SW VA only in N. VA and some of the cities.
Maybe all the trouble makers could be mesmerized by a Theremin.
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Great post, but I guess I’ll just comment on the notable fact that a banjo can leave a mark in a bronze statue. I knew those things were dangerous!
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I believe he fortified it somehow. That shows commitment.
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Someone should write an essay about those who were sufficiently moved by a piece of art to attack it physically. A kind of tribute, from one perspective.
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Sam Beckett’s Murphy portrays a character who attacks a statue of Cuchulain in the General Post Office in Dublin. I think that’s a good way to evaluate art. Would you attack it and, if so, how?
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No, I’m nonviolent towards things with souls, which includes people, animals, and art, but excludes computers and office furniture.
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I’d like to attack a Warhol painting with a can opener. Ba dum dum.
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