Society

Polite and otherwise... Well, the good news is that we have reached a consensus. The bad news is that we agree to disagree. Some suggest “Society” is a group. Others define it as a conversion of communities. I’m taking the Marxist approach. Groucho claimed that he would not want to be a member of any club that would have him. If it’s good enough for a cigar-chomping misanthropist, it’s good enough for me. Besides, if the military can recruit on the slogan “army of one,” I fully intend to be a society of one.

What Does “S” Represent?

In addition to keeping the original acronym Art, Society & Sustainability, the additional “S” preceding our A.S.S. signifies: Super, Sustenance, Serendipity, Solace, Synergy, Sound, Surmount, Sizzle, Seasonal, Soul, Sex, Sympathy, Style, Synthesize, Strum, Strut, Splendid, Symphonic, Shiver, Sure, Suck, Shake, Share, Solar, Smolder, Synopsis, Saucy, Sonnet,  Succor, Silliness, Sensation, Succulent, Sensitive, Serene, Sum, Symbol, Subconscious, Surprise,  Serenade, Solidarity, and Sass…. So.

I See Nice People

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with nice people. In moderation, pleasantness can be, well… all right. However, it is not so much the tepidness of the virtue, that stench of damning with faint praise (though, of course, there is that), as much as the practical implications from which my concerns arise. There are dangers in a cohort of nice individuals left unchaperoned. For example, they might, ostensibly, see nothing amiss in Art, Society & Sustainability. Others, made of less stern stuff (you and I), immediately see the A.S.S. laid bare before us.

From Art, Society & Sustainability (or A.S.S.) and S.A.S.S. to I Find Myself Wanting

In the Beginning--

These writings grew out of a seminar at Portland State University with noted social practice artist and educator Harrell Fletcher. The topic of the seminar: Art, Society & Sustainability.