Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday is over. I planned to be a little more productive, but I wound up relaxing, watching movies, reading, eating and drinking — all the time, musing on what I'm thankful for. Well, I was very thankful that there were no art openings all weekend. I missed Christopher Russell's book signing at Samuel Freeman's this past Sunday.  (I plan to buy the book.) I was instead, at a dear friend's father's memorial. Somehow that seemed more important (please don't take that personal Christopher). My friend's father, Eli Sercarz, was a man of great accomplishments. He was a scientist and renowned immunologist. He received many prestigious grants and was a professor and mentor to many students at UCLA. Many of his close family and friends spoke about his great contributions to society in the name of discovery and medicine. His research will go down in history and in the future, most likely, be responsible for saving and prolonging many lives. He touched many people's lives, yet he was a very modest man who was so gentle and kind when I would encounter him and his lovely wife at my friend's many family events. 

So, what does this have to do with art? Nothing. But it's what art comes from. And sometimes, we all need to take a break from the art world to take a deep breath and understand what is really important in this world. And this sadly, makes me angry at the art world, and the world in general. 

Since I was able to catch up on a little reading this extended weekend, I was able to take the time to read other sections of the newspaper besides the Calendar and Arts & Leisure sections. I read about our war in Afghanistan (ugh) and California's waning higher education funds, reducing enrollment for students by 40%. Both are abominations to our nation. I guess keeping America stupid is essential, so we can keep convincing America that our engagement in war is more important than education. And it's working!

After that dismal dismaying bit of reading, I found myself in the  Sunday Style section of The NY Times. I read about Madonna's Brazilian 22-year-old boy toy. He frequently gets DJing gigs of $15,000 a night. How can that be? How is that fair? That kind of money would pay half a teacher's wage in California. Does that sound right? It's all so fucked.

So, what does that have to do with art? Nothing. I guess I should not take a weekend off from art, otherwise, I might start having trouble seeing the importance of it all.

Here's hoping to having a new attitude when I take off for Art Basel Miami this week. I'm sure everything will be back in place. Our safe little world, with our safe bank accounts, all in place, ready to buy that expensive piece of art to hang over our expensive designer couch. Is that our contribution to society? Does that seem as important, like Eli Sercarz' contribution? There's no comparison. But, I know for a fact, Eli loved art and going to the opera and symphony, all which enriched his full life. 

The world is a big mixed-up place, and art makes it a safe retreat for me. But is that sort of like putting my head in the sand?