Saturday, May 29, 2004

Attacked for art, S.F. gallery closes....

SAN FRANCISCO / Attacked for art,

God I hate this kind of thing. We need art to remind us that we are not all animals, to remind us that we can raise above the pettiness that drive our base emotions. So an artist becomes angry when he sees American solders torturing prisoners of war, is it wrong to respond to the anger through art? Hell no! It is wrong to respond to the art through anger.

My nine-year-old son sits beside me as I wrote this. His advice is simple; if you don't like the art, just walk away.

I hope Lori Haigh keeps her gallery open. I hope other people fill it with art that helps us all deal with the dishonor our actions abroad have caused us here at home. Art helps heal. We need to heal.