AM 9/19 Benjamin

Flanders?

Nooo. Not that Flanders.

During the 16th & 17th centuries in the Netherlands (a region also known as Flanders) there was an artistic movement towards the realistic. The mostly still life oil paintings attempted to embrace the vulnerability of life, earthly pleasures and the transient notion of time.

The term vanitas was utilized to desribe the emotion stirred by this type of art. Vanitas is derived from the Latin word -vanita -or vanity. Now, I'm no expert on this topic and in postmodern culture it seems we have to be -or seek the advice of, an expert in order to speak on it, but I'll stretch those limits here....just a bit.

Benjamin addresses the various methods of art and expression. He recognizes the tools they require, the eduction and creativity involved, the reproduction of such art and the manipulations -in forms of intent, tradition, and capital it produces. He says, "Its self-alienation has reached such a degree that it can experience its own destruction as an aesthetic pleasure of the first order." (34) Yes, we certainly are the, "object of contemplation" on this one, however, I'm not sure I agree with him when he suggests that "war" will be the apex of the creativity curve. War would definately be a box office hit -so to speak, but can he really suggest that our society is that far gone?

Or maybe it's just a threat. Like....The government has issued a RED ALERT, RED ALERT. THERE IS A HIGHTENED (or decreased) LEVEL OF CREATIVITY TODAY.

I can't say that Benjamin's essay made me any more aware of the side-affects of an (bad) art induced society. It just made me more aware of the capacity that this dynamic has on all of us. Could the Flemish have been on to something with vanitas? Vanity. Hmmm. Reality. The fragility of life. I think maybe Benjamin is trying to push the idea that the further we get away from what's really real, the further away we get from the fragility of life. And the less we recognize the humanistic qualities in everything, the further we are from eachother -and therefore closer to the possibility of alien invasion. Just kidding. ....the closer to the possibility of war (or something like war).

So, may I be so bold as to make the deduction ....
vanity is not so good.