21b
BARBARA ROSE
and self-destruction multiply, as the artist, deprived of his capacity
to protest, or sensing the inadequacy of protest, turns against himself.
Part of the artist's sense of impotence derives from his recogni–
tion that society affords him no possibilities for responsible action. All
decisions regarding the artist's life and work are made by others–
bureaucrats, government functionaries, trustees, dealers, collectors, in–
stitutions, etc. Artists are rarely if ever consulted in a decision-making
capacity because society sees them as irresponsible infants - whose
antics are considered cute or bad, depending on how much mess they
make. Given this situation, the type of personality who chooses to be
an artist at this juncture in history is frequently dysfunctional to the
point of pathology, infantile and desperate.
Do we need any more proof that this society does not take art
seriously? It exalts creativity in official rhetoric, sets up funds and
council and endowments in which the artist is not permitted a deci–
sion-making role. The artist realizes he is no longer even an ornament,
but an expendable entertainer. Within such a context, the Dada at–
titude has no place. The freedom to experiment coupled with the
sense, characteristic of adolescence, of looking forward to a new world
is not a possible option. The present situation permits only passive
infantilism, or as a more difficult alternative, a higher state of con–
sciousness and a more developed sense of responsibility. But moral
responsibility cannot express itself in art, but only in the artist's con–
duct. Artists for example were among the first openly to oppose the
war. In 1966 a peace tower was built in Los Angeles by Mark
di
Suvero; works were donated by many leading artists to raise funds for
the peace movement. Irving Petlin was injured defending the tower.
As
a protest against the war, di Suvero left this country and works in
Europe. In 1970 artists organized the Art Strike and refused to as–
sociate themselves with official exhibitions of the government. A group
of artists formed an Emergency Cultural Government and went to
Washington to speak with government leaders. They were told that
since they were artists no one would take them seriously; but if they
had been doctors their plea might have been heard.
One cannot speak of artists like Andy Warhol and Claes Olden–
burg as protesting in Dada terms. However, they are effective mirrors
of the role and function we have assigned art. Warhol presents him–
self as an art-making machine, a prostitute to the capitalist system
