Art, Scribble, Simple Neoliberal Policy and the World

During the day after (western) New Year here in Sweden as I was trying to remove the scribbles on the facade I spent some time thinking about what differentiate art from destruction. As I don’t dislike graffiti in general, but struggle to see much meaning in the “tags” that some people spray on whatever they think is a good place to display their “tag”.

Two things make this a slight annoyance in my eyes:

1. It is unintelligent, it carries no message beside “look at me” (and the “me” is anonymous for everyone except the selected few, making it almost narcissistic)... Compare the above with these 1 2 3, I rest my case...

2. It classifies as destruction rather than creation if destruction is something that takes more time to repair that create. (following entropy is simple, creating extropy is the challenge)

While doing my best with emery paper and paint I realize that I found that the simplistic neoliberal policy that still is being promoted by many institutions, but no longer have any intellectual support aside from a few (lack of)–think(ing) tanks, is very much the same as tagging. It is very simplistic, do seldom care about those affected, promoted by people with a weak ego that seldom listen and the consequences takes much longer time to repair than it takes to impose them.

I hope that 2008 will see more creation and less destruction, more concern for the people (and other life forms) on the planet and less egoism.

For 2008 I also hope that we will see a more serious discussion and that media focus less on simplistic entertainment (by not inviting isolated lunatics from small think-tanks as often as today. They need to be invited in order not to show them that they are not being censored but that could happen in tabloids and free shows) and instead media could show the serious, interesting and discussions that is actually taking place in the fora where tomorrows world is being shaped. These fora do neither have people in black masks throwing brings through windows, not neoliberal people saying that everything is fine and we only need more trade/less regulations. This is not to say that people agree, far from it, but the different groups and countries have a more sophisticated, responsible and well argued way to get a message across. Obviously it takes more than a headline to understand the difference between a “list based approach” to environmental goods and services and a “project based”, but discussions like these are shaping the future.

Then again, maybe the next revolution will not take place in traditional media, but in cyberspace and inside our heads…

Hope all of you will have an amazing new western 2008, and hope you have saved some strength for celebration for the 7^th of February when we enter into the year of the rat according to the Chinese calendar.