Yet, as that sound of the axe meant freedom to one group, It meant something else to another.
mando --- William Conger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Of course I agree with Cheerskep. > > When I ran art programs would say that art curricula > are not at the edge of newness. They can't really > break new ground or define the next "ism" or even > explain what is going on right now. But any young > student who is any good wants to prove his or her > ability to be "ahead of the curve" and will try to > vex the curricular models. That's the nexus of > tension and excitement -- of learning and pushing-- > in > a top art program. Respect for the achievements of > past masters is not the same as repeating them. > Most > (good) artists probably have something unique to > offer > but few of them have the guts or the will to develop > it. Why? Because it may destroy them and ruin > their > ability. Therein lies the difference between the > happy > many -- those who know how they measure up to > established models -- and the tormented few, those > for > whom no measure of excellence is established and who > work in isolation. > > The comment regarding the frontiersman and his axe > comes from readings in Americana. It's commonly > known > that the often lawless frontiersman, an anarchist, a > squatter, a man on the run, was the person who broke > the wilderness, again and again. Very often it was > the same few men who kept moving on (sometimes when > they were pursued as felons, chased away by deed > holders, or just loners who grubbed for a pecarious > living). It was the folks who followed them who > developed the land, set up the towns, formed the > churches, enforced laws, and civilized the frontier. > > Another reason for moving on was the scarcity of > game. > It's been said that at the wild game would vanish > least 50 miles ahead of the line of settlement. > Hunter frontiersmen and Indians who were caught in > that empty zone either died or became fully > dependent > on settlers. Indians who moved on were crushing > into > other Indian territory with brutal results from > arrows > ahead and bullets behind. The movement of the > American frontier is a sad yet compelling story of > amoral material exploitation. > > 19C Historian Frederick Turner declared the > frontier > "closed" in a speech he gave at the opening of the > 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and he said it would be > internalized in culture. So it has. > > Yet "the sound of another man's axe" is a useful > metaphor for artistic anxiety and the quest for > innovation and freedom. > > > WC
