Times of crisis and art

Plaza Mayor Madrid 2013

To those who act like artists


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Crisis and degeneration

I read this morning: “Nothing is forever and the glory days of bread and circuses come to an end. After the money had been pouring down our streets without a defined destination,the situation changed and it is now scarce everywhere you look. Corruption, which has always been firmly rooted in the shadow of power is evident and unbearable. Even the luxuries that were a sign of status nowdays are ending. Today we are opening our minds to more rigorous austerity by cutting all spending to avoid falling into the clutches of moneylenders. Anti-corruption laws are beginning to become popular, and although it doesn’t put bread on the table at least comforts our souls. Everyone wonders how we could possibly ruin the country in this way, and also how we could end up in the hands of lenders. Unemployment and poverty are becoming our brand.” Surprisingly, I don´t write about the situation in which we live today, this was the picture of our country back in the sixteenth century, when poverty invaded the country and our artists wrote and painted works of art that still stir the world.

The comfort of emotion

So often has the story about being a good teacher been passed down, particularly about learning the lesson of what happened in the past so that history doesn´t repeat itself. “Tomorrow we will learn, we said reluctantly, to say the same thing again tomorrow” is an interesting sentence that could have been written by Lope de Vega himself. Crisis always shows the best and worst of the human race. Art is perhaps the best thing that mankind is capable of producing. Modifying the elements can touch the souls of those who will see the masterpiece in the future centuries. It is in these precise moments, when times are more difficult, when the artist is able to give a little more by creating the best work of art. Perhaps, now that crisis hits us with the same intensity as it did centuries ago, we have the luck to produce works of art that will live to survive beyond our life time. As food keeps us alive, the physician heals our body, the mechanic fixes our car, or the architect designs our houses, the artist gives us the chance to find one difference between mankind and animals. Art makes us human and connects us to a new reality. Art, which alone is capable of igniting our excitement should be part of our daily diet. If history is right we may be sharing a subway carriage or bus seat with a new Velazquez in the XXI century although his canvas may be the sheer wall of a ruined building on the outskirts of the city.

Art for free

Art is everywhere and you can enjoy it on the Internet, or by taking a walk around town. It's in the “Street Wall of Fame” by an unknown street artist, or in the galleries of the Prado museum that can be visited for free in the afternoon. Perhaps what makes the work of an artist a work of art is in the eye of the beholder. The purpose of art is to communicate emotion through elements. If we look around us we see that art and destruction are everywhere. It is true that humanity is distinct from other animals in some things through our ability to create and destroy for pleasure. Today we can find evidence for both. Destruction and crisis are so obvious to us, while art is beyond our sensitivity. Art has often been a major vehicle of protest and rebellion such as Goya with "The Shootings of May 2" or Larra with "come back tomorrow". In other contries we can find other examples such as Dmitri Vrubel with “Bruderkuss” on the Berlin Wall or Verdi with the famous opera Nebuchadnezzar. There are only a few examples about what art can do for us. Humanity has the divine ability to create or destroy for pleasure and moments of criris can choose how we express our protest and complaints. In these times of crisis and art, we just have to decide.

Thinking about what art is, do not miss this video: