The Art of the New Normal
By Elana Denise Anderson, PhD
What is “normal” anymore?
For some, if not all, normalcy includes family gatherings, work, play, the exploration of interests, travel, and the like. It is normal to have unrestricted access to all that one might need, want, or require from their environments and all therein. But for others, it is normal to experience untoward circumstances, to feel the absence of all that is needed, wanted, or required. It is normal for some to have, and for others to have not.
In this cycle, at this time, “normal” means continued disparity, racial and otherwise, the absence of smiles, the fear of disease and pestilence, the co-optation of culture, corporate greed and corruption, endless war, the hoarding of resources, natural responses to human degradation and despair, lack of leadership and political will, and countless other ills. Why is it still “normal” to feel anxious and afraid, to be skeptical and suspicious of others, to lie, cheat, steal, and kill? In this place, space, and time of global unrest for humanity, it seems to have always been so…
But it was never the way of the artist, this, and we—artists, have not forgotten our way. We used to love and move more freely and create more beautifully with less. It seems “normal” now to create art for money, art for recognition, or art for a consumer that will never truly know us. This has in many ways compromised, or at the very least threatened, the integrity of our art. Nevertheless, we understand that artmaking is and always has been, a revolutionary undertaking. We must work together to experience success, together. We find our kind and we make our way--this is our normalcy. It is not so new.
Recognizing that we are what we need again must be our new normal. We must continue to be what we know we are-creators of love and light, makers of rain, blenders of color, knitters of the fiber of being, dancemakers of the new age and singers of our timeless, ageless song. We can and we must continue our work. For us, by us, with us, ALL.
