That’s not cute baby talk. Art is crucial to our national defense.

Yesterday, my sister sent me this incredible piece of protest art. I truly hope people make use of it. I think it’s among the more important pieces of work to come out of this generation. Because it’s precise and effective at telling a specific truth, and it does so in a way that makes us appreciate our humanity more–but without taking anything out of the bite. In fact, it’s all the more cutting for how humans it is.

This is 10 hours long, but it’s also a “song” so it does repeat itself. About 12 minutes of listening will give you an idea of what it is (or at least that’s the point at which I noticed it repeating.

I was pleased to see the comments, saying “Art will save us.” And then distressed to find what Gottlieb Punk replied with.

In this section, I was going to include a screenshot of the interaction, but it seems the comment was deleted, which also makes me sad.

Okay, so what they responded to “Art will save us!” with was, “NO IT FUCKING WON’T. GET OUT ON THE STREETS!”

I know what they mean, and I’m not trying to undercut them at precisely the moment that I’m urging people to listen to what they have to say (you should).

But I also want this mentality about the arts totally fucking eradicated. Because either you made this piece because you think it can have an effect or not, and denigrating your own profession (reducing it to the frivolous part of the revolution, when it’s actually the revolution itself), is not gonna fucking stop the madness. The art you made, though, might make a dent.

But this isn’t about the power of one piece of truthful art (though that’s not to be denigrated either). It’s about a reorientation of our priorities.

Because ART KILLS CRIME. Art kills crime art kills crime art kills crime art kills crime. And Gottlieb Punk knows that–the entire point of this piece is the hope that perhaps the art–bringing the play right before the king’s eyes so he will proclaim his malefactions–will stop the crimes of ICE. The play IS the motherfucking thing.

But as a matter of priorities: Let’s contrast what happens when we prioritize technology, and denigrate the arts.

Essentially: Technology is built on the idea that human beings are bad, and we need something better than ourselves. At the very least, humans need augmentation, to the technologist, and at the most, we need to be eradicated to make way for superior robots.

The arts are built on the idea of confronting your own humanity, which enables us to better navigate each other. To the technologist, human flaws are to be gotten around. To the artist, human vulnerability is something to be acknowledged, immersed in and confronted–in order to come up with novel ways of solving problems that work on a micro and macro level.

To the artist, the internet seems unnecessary, because WE are the internet. We, human beings, are a web and delivery system of information. The environment around us is a web and a delivery system of information. And the more that we innovate societal systems, which stems from learning how to navigate interpersonal relationships, which stems from examining human relationships (which is what we do in the theatre and in art), the more information flows, the less lonely we all are, the more knowledgeable we become, the less depressed, the more free, the more upwardly mobile, the more democratic–

All of the things technology promises and does not deliver, the arts deliver. The arts are how we look at each other, and know things.

But the most important thing is that the arts are also how we keep power decentralized. If our information is stored in human beings, and human beings must navigate each other to get the information, then each person owns the information they have, and has leverage. It behooves them to keep the information flowing. But they cannot be forced to comply with things which go against their nature, because they are needed. Each person is a part of the web, and the web falls when people aren’t included, because information is missing.

So let’s look at the internet and technologists, and their approach.

Their approach is to extract all of the information from all of the people, put it one place, and try to apply their SUPER HUMAN GENIUS to the PUNY HUMAN BULLSHIT and try to make a God out of it, that will control the other puny humans that won’t give them what they want! Because human being suck and aren’t fast enough or compliant enough!

The psychopaths in power should never have had any–they should have been shut out of the flow of information between human beings that can trust each other. THAT would be the true Darwinian outcome for these piles of snot. In a world ruled by the arts, human beings would be smarter, faster, better (as opposed to machines), and technologists would be impoverished because they are selfish and don’t want to contribute to the human web (as opposed to artists).

Their premise relies on the idea that human beings need augmentation, to make up for their shortcomings. In order to maintain this premise, they need humans beings to be more helpless than they are.

This begins with the denigration and devaluation of the arts, femininity, and anything that tends towards bettering communication or interpersonal relationships.

We are lonely, illiterate, impotent, and scared of other humans beings, because they need us to be. That was the aim of their demoralizing propaganda machine. They drew us in with promises of more art. And then when they had us in one place, they squashed the arts.

Squashing the arts is what makes people lonely, illiterate, impotent and scared of other humans beings. These are the bases of crime.

This is why art kills crime. This is why art will quite literally save us all. Which is to say, if we do not take the arts more seriously, we will not be saved.

Okay…the inevitable question: What is art?

For my purposes, it boils down to this: Art seeks to reveal truth through symbolic metaphor.

This means that commercial art is not necessarily art (but can be), and propaganda is never art (because it seeks to subvert the truth). Propaganda is its own category, and does not belong in the category of art.

“But isn’t all art political? And so isn’t it all propaganda to someone?”

Quite simply, no. And shut up. This line is, itself, propaganda. The message of this line is, “Ignore art, because it merely represents someone’s agenda.” The same ways that journalism and science have been perverted by people’s agendas–and seemingly for the express purpose of saying, “See! Your truth isn’t better than my crimes!”, the arts that the mainstream sees have also been perverted by other people’s agendas, in order to convince us there is no difference between truth and lies.

But there is a tremendous difference. Art does NOT have an agenda, and when it does, it most likely is not art. It is either sales, or propaganda. The way a scientist might observe a fruit fly and report his findings, so too does a playwright observe human interaction and report their findings. The only difference is that the playwright works in a language of symbols that represent the truth, and the scientist works with the symbolic language of math and science. But they do the same thing: Observe the natural world and make their findings known. Their individual perspectives does not make it political. It makes it simply one piece in the web of human stories, to be made more complete by more art, by more people.

Technology hides behind science, though. I use it as an example of comparison to the arts, because they have been the least denigrated, professionally. They have been denigrated, but the profession is such a symbol of masculinity, that we still have reverence for people who spend their days observing nature in this way. We have no respect for artists. Because ArTs aRe GaY.

But as society tumbles down into the abyss, the arts extend down the slippery slope, vine-like, offering us a lifeline.

How far are we going to let ourselves tumble, while proclaiming, “What are these vines? Ambience? Stop trying to tickle me, you dumb artists! I’m looking for a solution, here!”

They are the solution, asshole.

Grab onto them, and we will heave ourselves back up. The arts will save us all.

The only fucking solution is looking at each other.

I’m counting down the days to the opening of my theatre company. The band has lost several members, and lots of adjustments have had to be made, but it seems we will arrive at the opening, on time, if out of breath.

I’m grateful, though, for these challenging weeks rehearsing the band who will hold down the fort for the community, as they show up to hop on stage. Because it’s made me remember that teachng people to get into a room and listen to each other–actually listen–is difficult, necessary work with unbelievable payoffs. Each and every one of us is somewhat unpracticed in doing this–but we remember, vaguely, that we used to do this: Gather regularly, work together towards something, listen, and find joy in the satisfaction of good work, done with people who challenge you. The dust is shaking off. We are coming alive.

And this is precisely what I hope to achieve with the audience.

It’s easy for the arts to appear frivolous. So much of it is about things that in our day-to-day lives might seem like a waste of time or money.

For instance, I’ve spent the morning agonizing over whether or not I really need a skull bubble wand to shower the open mic people with. I spent quite a bit of time debating organza tulle vs sequined tulle for the backdrop.

Such womanly concerns about what makes the most whimsical statement don’t seem like they belong to serious concerns about society. And yet, they might make the difference between whether people want to come back week after week to look at the people on this stage. It might make the difference between whether they will find connecting with other human beings to be a source of power, or a source of boredom.

Because I’ve got news for everyone: Connecting with other humans beings is the only source of power you get.

It’s hard won, and it takes practice, and eats up your day, and cost money. But without the arts, the fascists and their robots will win. Because without them, you don’t know how to be a human being that can navigate the world. We use observation, stories and symbols and experiences to navigate. The arts expand these tools for everyone who encounters them. And when we use the arts, the web of information we create gets stronger, more democratic, and the autonomy of everyone who participates increases as the community grows stronger.

The arts deliver the promise of technology, in a sustainable way, that continues to improve with every generation that continues the tradition.

Technology, on the other hand, enshittifies over time, and drags us towards death, destruction and fascism.

WE are the world wide web. The internet has always been a distraction from where we should be trying to innovate. The technologists have always been saying that human beings are not enough as they are, while the artists have been cataloging all of the incredibly powerful tools we are all born with intrinsically.

Engage with your fellow humans, and you are connected. Art will save us all.

OH! And please donate to my theatre company! (I really want that skull bubble wand for the show!)

Go here and use the drop down menu to select Boneyard Theatre. Your donation is tax deductible! We need about $200 more dollars to complete the set!