Friday, April 25, 2014
Platforms
A point that Polistra has made repeatedly: Art and invention DO NOT start from letting it all hang out. Art and invention DO NOT start from a cultureless tabula rasa or a colorless theory. This is a mistake that America has made from the start, and in recent decades we've expanded the mistake by intentionally destroying all remnants of civilized culture. Art and invention need a platform to build on, and occasionally a platform to fight against. After you've smashed the platform, you don't even have anything meaningful to resist.
Russia didn't make that mistake. Lenin tried but gave up. Stalin and his successors put great effort into maintaining the cultural traditions of Russians and some of the other ethnic groups within the Empire.
When everyone understands a common set of references, art can start at a higher level. Example:
Silly but tremendously inventive. Building on the boundaries of commonly understood references, and building on the limits of the performers. Wonderful result.
¶ 4:14 AM 
