SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART IS DEAD (Part One)

I Like America and America Likes Me, Joseph Beuys, 1974

 THEY killed it.Killed another word.(Three words actually.)Death by Art.Slowly.Slowly, THEY killed some words:A slow process.Drowning by "Culture".THEY killed socially engaged art. Socially engaged art wasAn EASY target.Art is always an easy target.The process?Slowly subsume ...Label, demean, reject, define, include, standardise, institutionalise, integrate, "reach out", educate, celebrate, award BIG prizes, exclude.(End Game: DEPOLITICISATION.) THEY always EXCLUDEThose who believedThat they could make a change,That they were autonomous,That they might opposeThe INSTITUTIONS OF ART. Some will weep,While some will cheer:New CAREER OPPORTUNITIES!Follow THEIR path.Assist in THEIR conditioning,THEIR social "cleansing".PARASITES! No matter.GAME OVER!Good.Move FORWARD.Anti-institution;Anti-Art.THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND! Self-organise.Our practice remains the same:Outside The Castle;In the margins,Where living together creativelyFerments. ZERO TIMES ZERO.