FREE ESSAY ON COMMERCIALISM , AMERICA'S HIDDEN ARTFORM

COMMERCIALISM , AMERICA'S HIDDEN ARTFORM

A Culture Still Cultured
art n. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principals,
of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. -The Random House
Dictionary
"Josh, you just have to see the new GAP Khakis commercial!" proclaimed my excited
brother. I even went as far as watching the same channel until I finally saw the
commercial. I sat in front of the television for over a half an hour, and turned my head
at the sound of catchy swing music to see young men and women dancing to music on a stark
white backdrop. Their energy and enthusiasm to dance was like nothing I had seen in
reality. In all the twisting and tangling of arms, legs, and female hair, I froze in my
seat as everyone on the dance floor froze in mid air. My heart stopped as I followed the
camera around the frozen dancers. The new perception heightened the dancing energy. The
GAP Khakis sign invaded the screen for a few seconds and the screen went blank. Was this
the work of an evil genius trying to get my attention so that I could be brainwashed into
buying a product? Could it perhaps be simply one artist communicating a new sense of
beauty to the whole world, regardless of the product I was deeply affected by the strange
time and space rendered in front of me in thirty seconds. Commercial film affects me more
than fine art in a museum does. It has also proven to be much better at portraying
subtleties to a mass audience in a clear and definite way. People are ashamed of this
comparative strength. Many of my self-fabricated intellectual friends claim to enjoy
gallery fine art more than they enjoy movies and television. When we are at the gallery,
I watch my friends ooh and aah at the work as they interpret its meaning amongst
themselves. After dragging them cynically into the movie theater, they exit two hours
later wiping their eyes off not wanting to say anything to anyone.
Before the idea of mass-produced copies of art, people were starved for the kind of
extraordinary visions we take for granted. They went to art shows and concerts. They
valued their circuses and city zoos. After someone realized that the power of the
extraordinarily beautiful could be very profitable, everything became consumerism. So,
did all of this artistic talent disappear into thin air? Do bitter fine artists have
reason to spit at an official for stifling the National Endowment for the Arts? The
answer is in the advertisement. Fine art appreciation may be a low priority to many
Americans. I become uneasy when I hear someone say, "Art is dead in America!" The truth
is that traditional art is dead in America. Did puritans sail the Atlantic ocean to
settle here and be just like the people they broke away from? America's having
non-traditional art is a blessing to its original idea of constantly self reforming and
exploring the possible new and better.
America has a very thriving art form. Part of the reason why this art will never die is
because people deny that it is art. The system is so engrained in our society that people
are too ashamed to include it within the nomenclature of what they have been taught early
on to see as inaccessible and foreign culture. That unique and strong art is renamed
consumerism for its functional relationship to the economy. Very creative people in
America work in show business and advertisement. The "fine art" continues to live
underground to satisfy our nostalgia for the past, our need for small hors d'ouvres of
diversity now and again, and as an important breeding ground for new ideas and
approaches. The advertisements on TV celebrate our culture's new ideas and feelings. They
catch our attention not because they were written by psychologist-brain washers, but
because they are powered by artistic minds who would have stopped at nothing to
communicate humanity in any other way, had it not been for such a wonderful system of
communication as consumerism.
The audience gets a thrill and gains peace of mind. There is also a product being sold,
but in a good commercial, that is almost irrelevant to the message of human
identification. Apple's Think different campaign catches our hearts by tirelessly
reminding us that everyone who changed the history books thought outside of the box, and
was unique in some way. As I drive up Sunset Blvd. my eye sometimes tears at the sight of
John Lennon's face 50 feet high on the side of a building. He was put there by an ad team
to make me feel better about my own human uniqueness. I cheer at the face of Ansel Adams
as I drive up the 405 freeway, and afterwards, it will always be my choice to purchase an
Imac computer. It would be in my best interest to give that company money now that they
have shown me their talent for choosing the right artists that I can identify with.
It's as if the higher art critics have forgotten that art always had a commercial tie
throughout history. People bought paintings of their loved ones and themselves. It was
the most immortalizing thing they could find at the time, and still so to some. A famous
Renaissance painter's uncanny ability to catch the likeness in people was not only
appreciated with the highest respect, but also paid handsomely. That existed even until
Norman Rockwell's uncanny ability to capture the same humanity. He never considered
himself an artist.
So is it bad that we think our art culture doesn't exist among the common folk? Wouldn't
all chaos rein if the people who considered themselves high class realized that they were
just like the rest of us? Perhaps it is safe to say that as long as everyone secretly
appreciates American consumer culture across the globe, it is no longer important whether
it exactly resembles Art with a capital A. It is somewhat of a more powerful model, able
to reach many more people in less time. It is Entertainment with a capital E, the new art
for a new kind of society, something to be blissfully ashamed of!