RE: Aesthetic Evangelists assignment

Madeline  Quint 

Aesthetic Evangelists  reflection 

4/4/16

In Grant H. Kester's essay he chooses to analyze new public art and "the emerging institutional and idealogical identity of the public artist." He will cover the changes in the system of "arts patronage," the "moral economy" of capitalism, and the "historical development of urban reform in the U.S. Kester quotes that new public art is a "new genre" that takes the "interactive form" of community based projects that are brought on by social issues. In this "new" philosophy of work the artists aren't as worried about producing objects as they are about the process and collaborating. According to Hester, production of work involves the artist in many negotiations involving the social and cultural boundaries. And these negotiations lead to methodological questions concerning community-based art. But,  If a delegate stands for an absent community who really controls what he or she chooses to stand for or represent in the community? Thus, coalition should be considered in this process; ctb.ku.edu quotes…

"coalition is a group of individuals and/or organizations with a common interest who agree to work together toward a common goal."

Furthermore, the common goal could also be as narrow or broad as you make it but either way as ctb.ku.edu quotes once again, 

"nearly every segment of the community can be included" 

After having discussed some of the methodological questions raised by community-based public art, Kester then chose to examine the "general ideological climate in which work is being produced." He believed that to examine the work you must first begin with an understanding of the moral economy of capitalism, and the "history of liberal reform." Kester states that the readers should start by looking at conservative arguments about poverty, social and cultural inequality, and disenfranchisement. But what does he only say to look at the conservative arguments? I believe that is wrong to say, if you're going to look at one side, you should look at both to be even more informed and not have a bias opinion…especially when dealing with a community. Kester continues to go on and about what the conservatives think and want, but what about the liberals? He continues to "insult" the conservatives but never goes into great detail about the liberals and their views. 

Also, throughout the rest of this essay Kester expresses his concern about those who are committed to a progressive cultural practice that then, thus inadvertently may support features of the conservative position. Since, this paper is a reflection based off of the essay we are required to read I must be honest…coming from a point of view that is neither liberal or conservative (meaning I am independent) I feel that Kester has a very high viewpoint of himself and thus the energy in the essay bothers me. INFORMATION FLUENCY states that…

"A statement is biased if it reflects a partiality, preference, or prejudice for or against a person, object, or idea. Much of what you read and hear expresses a bias."

Overall, this essay was quite difficult for me to continue to read and I found myself stopping in disbelief of what he said or how he chose to word his "ideas or beliefs." Therefore, I was not too impressed and wish he would have wrote about both point of views in this essay, or at least examined these points of views through an unbiased eye. 

Bibliography 

"Section 5. Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition." Chapter 5. Choosing Strategies to Promote Community Health and Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

"Information Fluency." Bias. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016"