Cynicism, that nasty kid on the contemporary art block, suddenly seems less entrenched than it has for the past few decades. Love is sprouting in its cracks. Two staunch advocates of the sweetest and most innocent sorts of love include Yoko Ono and Jiri Kovanda. 

Ono, the cutest, high-spirited veteran of tender feelings, is currently traveling the globe as a self-appointed ambassador of love. She is so endearing in this role that she is inspiring lifelong misanthropes to lift the tiny plastic flashlights she distributes and joyfully comply with her instructions to learn the code of a language that says it all with just three words. One flash means “I”. Two flashes mean “love”. Three mean “you”. Flashers of love are proliferated in auditoriums and stadiums around the globe, eagerly replacing their willfulness with willingness to proclaim their affections to the great, all-embracing, anonymous “you”. Their thumbs seem never to weary.

 
The Czech artist Jirí Kovanda has promoted love by positioning himself behind a large window, holding up a note that asks passers-by to kiss him through the glass. Remarkably, they do, expressing the range of affection that attends this loving act: shyness, passion, tenderness, and so forth. In a culture where institutions and authorities excel at hostile actions, Kovanda provides a vital arena to practice the art of loving actions.

These artists are presenting love as a viable alternative to distrust, aversion, suspicion, fear, defensiveness, aggression that have long been in vogue. Please join me in reinforcing their efforts. I send you my heartfelt good wishes, and would be delighted to receive yours in exchange. I also pledge to devote love to the waters, the air, the soils, and critters who occupy them.

Be first to comment this article

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved