OUIL401: Task 2 - Welcome to the Age of Denial (further reading)

Welcome to the Age of Denial

A. Frank, 2013 (New York Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/opinion/welcome-to-the-age-of-denial.html

Reading up on satire for my essay I found a common theme whilst researching articles about the 'death' of satire. Toby Young's quote states that satirists' have more power than modern politicians but the articles seem to suggest satire is struggling to keep up with the 'post-truth politics' environment.

Post-truth politics is when political figures focus more on promoting their own personal, emotional views rather than bothering with facts

Brexit and Trump's US Election campaign are perfect examples of stirring up hate with lies and statements that have no connection with reality purely for political gains 

A. Frank is a scientist who became dismayed at the rise in denial of scientific research in the US since he became a physics graduate twenty five years ago.

In relation to my quote, I find satire is actually weakened by the uprising of anti-science and anti-facts in general. Mainly because if someone is caught out for a blatant lie or racist remark they simply deny it and in most cases seem to gain more support the more bloody minded they become when faced with accusations of lying or inciting hate.

Satire can't compete when if it tries to ridicule someone for having extreme views or being clueless and the majority of people come out supporting the person being targeted.

There is now a culture where if you confront someone with a fact they can simply claim to know better without having any evidence and that they are fighting the intellectual elite. By being overly passionate or charismatic when delivering their rambling, made up nonsense this usually trumps a coherent, considered non manic statement of fact.

A. Frank

'Today, however, it is politically effective, and socially acceptable, to deny scientific fact. Narrowly defined, “creationism” was a minor current in American thinking for much of the 20th century. But in the years since I was a student, a well-funded effort has skillfully rebranded that ideology as “creation science” and pushed it into classrooms across the country. Though transparently unscientific, denying evolution has become a litmus test for some conservative politicians, even at the highest levels.'

'What do I tell my students? From one end of their educational trajectory to the other, our society told these kids science was important. How confusing is it for them now, when scientists receive death threats for simply doing honest research on our planet’s climate history?'

A. Frank states it's more important than ever to promote science in a time when facts and evidence is constantly disregarded. Politicians are turning their backs of science, even though they reap it's constant benefits to medicine and technology that drives the western world and pander to the powerful religious elite who simply do not need any facts for their beliefs.  

It's a warning that using facts and truth for a solid argument can no longer be taken for granted. So satire no longer can simply highlight what seems to be ridiculous to a rational human being as the post-truth beliefs of the new right wing movement now have enough media and political power to shrug off any ridicule because they no longer need to answer to the truth.

OUIL401: COP Lecture - Print Culture Part 2

The Inside Out Project

Although the digital print process is favoured over traditional print methods for obvious reasons it actually has the capacity to achieve things on a global scale that couldn't be achieved before the post print age.

Inside Out Project is an example of how digital printing can have a positive, global impact.

The process is a democratic way of allowing people around the world tell there stories through print with no commercial or capitalist restraints or influence.

Groups of otherwise oppressed or ignored people in society can quickly and personally dictate the message they want to display to the world using the Inside Out Project as a digital tool.

The Inside Out Project is simply an outlet for their story.

Statement from the Inside Out Website...

'Organized by Morgan State University’s Visual Arts Department, Black Lives Matter is a visual response to the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. Created in 2012 after the murder of Trayvon Martin, the movement “[broadens] the conversation around state violence to include all of the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state.” Our group action aims to shed light on the presence of invisible boundaries and limitations placed on Black people throughout different facets of our lives.'

The detailed, photographic portraits are a powerful way of connecting with the audience that sees them. There is even a communal process of installing the portraits that involves the local community. 

The artist JR who started Inside Out has no say as an artist on what each project is trying to say but his initial idea of creating a democratic outlet using modern digital technology is clever way of creating art on a vast scale with his focus on helping people have their voices heard. 

Save the Arctic - 4000 portraits

Save the Artic shows the printing process being used in the most ambitious and challenging way, displaying the image in extremely hostile environment. It's a defiant statement of intent, challenging the environmental damage being done which is not fully exposed because of the Arctic's remoteness geographically and in the global political discussion.

Be the Change, Juarez

Inside Out allows forgotten or ignored stories of mass suffering such as the Mexican/US border and people's desperation for better lives. The huge displays become part of the landscape and are impossible to ignore. The large scale would never have been possible before the digital age. 

We Still Exist

The portraits and the faces they show asked the audience to think about the often talked about but then forgotten injustices/oppression of tribes/sections of society in a more humane way.

Seeing faces of the real people who are the oppressed forces the audience to question their thoughts and taps into a more global empathy that doesn't come through in other more conceptual art forms.