“To what extent should art reflect social and political realities rather than focus purely on aesthetic value?”
Art is a manifestation of a perturbation of the reality that the artist faced at the time of forming the art for the first time. The art itself is often labelled great, or even a magnum opus, for its honesty, something uncomfortable that has haunted the artist for years. By explaining this, it is clear that art should not be limited when discussing social and political issues.
Even for some, the nastiest or any taboo is allowed to be discussed by artists in a way that they feel is the most beautiful and ironic way to say something, making people who enjoy it, or for some, experience it, feel the sadness, the deepest and the irony of the art itself. There is no such urgency for artists to tolerate or try to meet people’s opinions of their way of expressing themselves halfway, since art is personal, and they do not need to feel guilty or even like an alien for doing what they should have done.
Critics For Political Arts
Even some people try to blame artists for the lack of technical maturity, asking them to sharpen their technique before giving their art political weight. Nonetheless, the greatest techniques would not beat honesty. Artists do not need to be experts or politically correct. In the end, they are not working for academic purposes or delivering a cover that covers both sides, which has to be clear without room for doubt. Artists are independent characters, allowed to dig further into possibilities or even the greatest trauma that not only brings anxiety but, deep down, a resolution inside themselves.
People who ask artists to grow up and be considerate of everything are actually the problematic ones. There should be no limitations on artists or moral obligations that push them to feel guilty for who they are. Nothing is more beautiful or decent in their journey with their art than realisation, but in the context of art, they are allowed to be themselves, and no person has the right to judge them, not on the basis of their personal values nor any unwritten laws.
Conclusion
Artists only need to express themselves, and people decide. If they want to see, the door is open, and discussion is allowed while respecting each other’s interpretation.
Therefore, arts are allowed to be as political as possible and even to dig deeper into taboos because arts often are the voice of people who are silenced due to limitations in norms, religious values or even prejudice, which often do not leave any room for empathy, but violence and alienation.
Arts should not be limited to their role as a way for the voiceless to say whatever they want to say.
