Art: “Too Tired to Function” by Riikka Fransila
HUMPTY DUMPTY
The young, rich and poor, think
Nintendo is superior to the Sistine Chapel.
They admire Steve Jobs more than Michelangelo.
If not that, then they are judged equally as artists,
as creative forces. People’s idea of culture consists of
computer games and videos. In China, the favorite film of the
15 to 20 crowd is Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn.
In America, the young esteem Rogue Nation and Harry Potter
as works of cinematic art, and not a soul says otherwise.
The kids here watch porno in college and want to get rich.
From their point of view, there isn’t anything of value
that isn’t on Google or YouTube. Their answer to art is to take
a dick pic or a selfie with their mouths full of cherries.
Given the choice, which would you prefer,
a can of chicken noodle or a painting of Campbell Soup ?
Pop art drives people from the museums. Pop music
hasn’t helped either. Who wants to go to the symphony
to listen to Pop Goes the Weasel? At a basic level,
people get tired of calling dreck, art. Star Wars killed film going.
The cartoonists have taken over; the banks own the studios.
People demand shag carpeting in their houses,
but they don’t want pictures of it on their walls.
It’s the feel that helps people relax, not the image.
That’s where pop art gets it wrong.
There can be no art without skill. Without training and powers of
endurance, nobody can learn to throw a pot. The kids can bang a drum
or bang each other, but the oboe takes years of practice, as does
the piccolo. We promote creativity but not obedience. There is no
discipline except on the football field where the coaches kick the
idiots off the team. The so-called artists are praised to the sky even
when they skip rehearsal. Fat girls fight to join the ballet. Kids
without lips want to play trumpet. Something has to give. Some
one has to say no. We do need creativity but we also need tyrants.
Monster geniuses who have no patience. Prima donnas, tantrum throwers –
not sensitivity trainers – are what’s needed. Bring back the Gods.
Otherwise, the arts will vanish and in their place we’ll have docile
people, like the Swiss, who after hundreds of years of contentment
invented clocks with punctual cocks that sing.
About the author:
David Lohrey grew up in Memphis. His poetry can be found in Otoliths, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Easy Street and New London Writers. In addition, recent poems have been anthologized by the University of Alabama (Dewpoint), Illinois State University (Obsidian) and Michigan State University (The Offbeat). Work can also be found in The Stony Thursday Book (Limerick) and Hidden Channel Zine (Mall Sligo). David is a member of the Sudden Denouement Literary Collective in Houston. Recent fiction can be read in Crack the Spine, Brilliant Flash Fiction and Every Writer. He teaches in Tokyo.
Art:
“Too Tired to Function” by Riikka Fransila, Helsinki, Finland, @vintageart_originals.