¶ … Future
Born under Saturn
According to Born Under Saturn, over the course of the Middle Ages, a new paradigm was born. Before, in the ancient world, artists functioned anonymously. Artists were seen as craftsmen who produced works, often in a fairly formulaic manner, for specific religious and civic purposes. In the Middle Ages, artists as individual creators with unique visions became more important in the culture. Gradually, the reverence for the 'magic object' became transferred onto the artist him or herself.
There are some perils to this paradigm. Firstly, it tends to isolate the artist from any sense of community. The technique, craftsmanship, and assumptions of what constitutes art are disengaged from the production of the work. Artists are seen as 'natural' and either born or not born, rather than created. This mystification of the character of the artist can lead to certain persons being shut out of the possibilities of generating art and gaining the right to create art because they are excluded...
Even if the artist may come up with his or her idea sitting in a state of solitude, the artist is still the receptacle of cultural ideas and conceptions. Also, the reception of the artist is highly culturally 'bound.' What we think of as genius is impacted by what we learn is 'correct,' artistically speaking, and although some artists may move our culture forward in terms of its ability to conceptualize art in a different fashion, there is a discernable progression from one idea to the next. Nothing comes from nothing. What would seem like a problem, or simply a mess to a 19th century viewer might look like great art to a 21st century gazer, simply because he or she had been schooled in the artistic observation techniques of the 20th century movements of Cubism or Abstract Expressionism.
Q2. The Tragedy of the Commons
The tragedy of the commons is the tendency to overuse natural resources to the point that they…
