Monday, March 17, 2008

My kind of art

"What was the most important thing I learned from Chomsky? That capitalism compels us to work ourselves to death in order to stuff our houses with things we don't need. Perhaps this is one thing art can do: create a new aesthetic, one of austerity."

2 comments:

Leila Abu-Saba said...

Funny that most of the artists I have been close to in my life have been minimalists... Even as a teenager I wanted a minimalist aesthetic - made my father take down my bed & remove my bedroom furniture so I could sleep on a mattress on the floor amidst austerity a la japonaise. I'm not the biggest minimalist now in my home decor, and I collect books with a maximalist's passion, but the ideas still intrigue me. And I don't buy nearly the amount of "chatchkes" that other women my age do. In fact I eschew chatchkes completely.

Leila Abu-Saba said...

chatchkes - Yiddish for those little gew-gaws, knickknacks, useless items people buy to display or stuff into closets.