Nikki Gosselin
February 8th, 2018
Professor Emerson
ENG 110
Arts Place in the World
There are truly many ways in which art has meaning in our society. Rhys Southan, a screen-writer, discusses art’s place in the world within the text “Is Art a Waste of Time?”. This text allows the audience to question their own thoughts about if they believe art is useful or not. Throughout this text, Southan looks into the views of Effective Altruists (EAs), who believe that art is a waste of time and resources which could be spent on doing something more productive. However, Titus Kaphar, a painter and sculptor, brings to the table an interesting point with the value of art history, which allows one to think about the value of art in a different way. Kaphar and Southan both have similar views and opinions on art which revolve around its positive impact on society. Art being used as historical and emotional value is a relevant topic that both artists would agree are important. I believe that art does find a place for itself in our world by touching the hearts of those who find the beauty in it, and those who find the importance of the culture within.
Though Titus Kaphar and Rhys Southan both have compelling arguments regarding art, they are a bit different. Kaphar mainly focuses on the impact art has to our history and modern day. Within the TED talk, he brings up many points about minorities and their place in our art history. He states, “By and large, the representation of black people and the history of Western painting is enslaved, in servitude or impoverished…They’re hidden. They are in the shadows. And so what we have are these representations of black people that don’t reflect their humanity.”
This quote demonstrates Kaphar’s views toward how art history does not represent African Americans as much as those who are white. Even when they were represented in artwork, it was in a negative connotation. For example, they were exemplified as slaves who were not given the best treatment or way of life. This shows that African Americans were not given much of a voice in the past, and were in some sort of “hiding”. Even though, it was a very different time back then with a lot of inequality, Kaphar believes that it is still important. Kaphar, being a painter, was very interested in trying to teach himself how to represent black skin, and how to bring these characters from the past out of hiding. He devotes his time to remaking old paintings that he finds in history books and tries to represent those hidden characters. He brings new meaning to these paintings and gives them a whole new value. Kaphar shows that the culture demonstrated through art is significant to our history. Art can change us by showing where we came from and which direction we want to go in.
Art holds an important piece of our heritage and culture. Kaphar draws in an interesting perspective of how to deal with the horrors of the past. There is a very controversial topic that relates to public monuments around the United States. Some feel as if they are racist and inappropriate, while others want to keep them. Those who want to keep them do not see the problem because it is just our history. It is very debatable whether to tear it down or not. However, Kaphar feels as if this question should not be binary. Instead, he thinks that we should allow a new generation of modern day artists to make new monuments that will be built next to these old ones. He believes that this is an opportunity to finally resolve what has happened in the past. The old sculptures will represent the racism of that time period, while the new ones that stand next to them will represent our perseverance and how we have advanced. Kaphar feels as if we cannot erase our history because it is a part of each and every one of us. Even though he does not want to erase history, he does want to amend it. I believe that this is a genius idea, because we will still have the remains of the past so we will know how life was different back then. At the same time, we will have something to represent how far we have come and that will be something for our nation to be proud of. Art has significant and meaningful historical value that should not be forgotten. Kaphar states, “I don’t ever want it to be forgotten that someone got away with that, with using that name. This symbol of racism placard on our streets, placard on our squares, artwork, sculptures, monuments-I don’t want us to forget that.” He feels very strongly about this topic, and I think that people will follow his lead. If there is a new, bold sculpture added next to the old one, then “that oppressive visual voice that that object has on the people who walk by gets silenced. And it gets silenced without having to tear it down.” With doing so, this will allow us all to move forward to a bright future while still remembering our history.
It is important to acknowledge the other side of this argument. Southan, also a supporter of art, discusses throughout his text whether art has a place in our world or not. However, he submerged himself in the Effective Altruism movement and began to learn about the beliefs that they had, which greatly contradicted his. While he was doing so, he began to doubt himself and his artwork. He states, “…most of them seemed doubtful that art had much power to alter the world for the better…I started to feel like they might have a point…Simply put, EAs want to reduce suffering and increase lifespan and happiness. That’s it: nothing else matters.” The thoughts and ideas of the EAs extremely oppose those who think art is valuable to our world. After Southan received the regret-to-inform letter after he submitted his script, and he became discouraged. Throughout this text, it argues for and against the usefulness of art.
Though Southan is an artist, he brings up the many points and concepts that the Effective Altruists have. For example, one of the core concepts in the EA is replaceability. This basically means that the only true good that counts is what more you can accomplish than someone else who would have in your place. The goal in this case is to be the most irreplaceable. However, no matter what, everyone can do more than what they are doing. It is hard to know what the limit really is, or if there is a limit at all. Overall, the EAs are not supporters of the arts because they feel like they waste their time and resources. These resources that are put into artwork could be used to save lives and help reduce suffering. They believe that one should work very hard to earn money, and then give as much of that money away to those who need it. The EAs are picky about what a “good deed” is and makes you think “…does your preferred good deed make as much of a difference as simply handing over the money? If not, how good a deed is it really?” Southan questions this idea if art is actually a waste of time throughout this piece, and, in the end, decides what he will do with his newly enlightened views.
In the last paragraph of this text, Southan makes his final decision about whether or not to continue art. He states, “For now, that will have to be my justification. I’m not ready to give up writing. I’m not ready to take up some high-paid job that I’d hate in order to give up writing. I’m not ready to take up some high-paid job that I’d hate in order to reduce the world’s suffering. Maybe that will change. For now, call me Net-Positive Man.” In this statement, he is saying that he will not give up on his passion and dreams in life. Even though art does not have a direct benefit to help others like donating money does, it gives emotional happiness to those who make art and those who find comfort in taking in art.
Overall, Southan and Kaphar are supporters of the arts at heart. Kaphar sees history as a reason why art is essential to our world. Kaphar is very passionate about using art to look at the past, accept it, and amend it. He realizes that even though our history is not pretty, there is still value to looking back on it and seeing how far we have come since then. Kaphar uses his artwork to bring out the hidden figures of African Americans in old pieces of artwork. Southan, on the other hand, mainly focuses on the emotional value and the enjoyment of art. These two values greatly represents arts place in the world.
