Dreaming the World

Today is cold and clear. Long morning shadows spill across the landscape and the local birds are beginning to defend their territories. Our witch hazel is on the verge of blossoming and buds are swelling on other trees. The weather becomes warmer and wetter by Wednesday.

Yesterday Jennie’s son, Daniel, and his wife, Katie, had the opening for their joint show in a small gallery in New Bedford. Daniel is a painter and he is exhibiting some 25 small playful portraits of the backs of people’s heads. Katie is a potter who of late has been making wood furniture. She is showing a large screen and two tables. The show is both striking and a great deal of fun.

They drove from the Midwest with their work, dropped it off at the gallery, then spent a few days with us before flying home this morning. Inevitably, our conversations turned at times to art and the state of the world. The perennial question, “Does art make a difference?” seemed always at the heart of those discussions. I argued that making the art of one’s choice (we all work across disciplines) subverts projects that seek to totalize one point of view, which is why tyrants perceive the arts to be dangerous.

We also spoke together about climate change and Katie’s long time commitment to doing what she can to stop it. She spoke about learning about global warming in elementary school and how she has been committed to doing what she can ever sense. We all agreed that sometimes it seems we make no impact at all, especially in the US. We also reminded each other that other countries are committed to addressing climate change, and that we are part of a global network of concerned and active artists and others.

I read this morning that southern New England remains in low level drought, and although the situation is much improved, the winter has been unusually dry and we need precipitation. This has been the third winter in a row of little snow, a consequence of immensely impactful climate change. For the past few years we have been in drought more often than not, a very concerning situation as this in an ecosystem that expects some forty inches of precipitation annually and storms have repeatedly skirted us. We are forecast to receive much needed rain Wednesday which should help.

One of the central tasks of the arts is to make inner life visible, a truly radical action in our culture. Climate change and the rise of hatred and greed impact us all but the media tend to depersonalize that impact. Good art, in any form, puts our lived experiences into context and challenges the global narrative of loneliness and incapacity.

Yesterday morning, before the opening, found Daniel, his brother and his partner (both artists), Jennie and I all in the studio, just playing. What a gift!