'LOVE' sculptor has new message for Obama era

[bigtree]

The pop artist best known for his "LOVE" word sculpture has created a similar public art installation that spells hope - in celebration of Barack Obama's message of hope.

Artist Robert Indiana's "HOPE" was unveiled Thursday at Jim Kempner Fine Art, a Manhattan gallery.

His publicist says the artist raised more than $1 million for the Obama campaign by creating "HOPE" prints, posters, T-shirts and other memorabilia. No decision has yet been made on where the sculpture will be permanently displayed.

The 6-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture was shown privately during August's Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Versions of Indiana's classic "LOVE" sculpture appear in several cities around the world.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/15/DDPO15B7KJ.DTL

[Patsy Stone]

1. Made it my avatar the moment I saw it.

Mr. Indiana: :yourock:

[blogslut]

2. I dig it

[Hannah Bell]

3. hope? that was the clinton catchphrase. how about "action" or

"deeds" or "justice" -

"hope" = "empty"

it's only when things suck you need hope.

when you can see the evidence they're getting better - the concrete reality is enough.


"...(hope) is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. (hope) is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

The abolition of (hope) as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of (hope) is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which (hope) is the halo.

Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower."

[Jack Rabbit]

5. "it's only when things suck you need hope."

Ms. Bell, things really suck right now.

[Hannah Bell]

6. yes, the point being i dislike "hope" as the symbol of the new admin.

it implies things will continue to suck.

enough with "hope", already. i have a trunkful, 16 year's worth.

[roguevalley]

39. hope for me implies action and determination. just me.

[arcadian]

8. Democrats = Hope

Republicans = Strong defense

Both groups are betting that you will sit down and STFU til the next time they need your vote.

[Hannah Bell]

9. "strong defense" at least creates jobs. "hope" = ?

[jberryhill]

11. = "something worth defending" /nt

[Hannah Bell]

12. hope is not worth defending.

you can have all the hope you please while they f--k you six ways to sunday.

i prefer to jail the rapists.


"Frankly, I don’t have much hope. But I think that’s a good thing. Hope is what keeps us chained to the system, the conglomerate of people and ideas and ideals that is causing the destruction of the Earth.

To start, there is the false hope that suddenly somehow the system may inexplicably change. Or technology will save us. Or the Great Mother. Or beings from Alpha Centauri. Or Jesus Christ. Or Santa Claus. All of these false hopes lead to inaction, or at least to ineffectiveness. One reason my mother stayed with my abusive father was that there were no battered women’s shelters in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but another was her false hope that he would change. False hopes bind us to unlivable situations, and blind us to real possibilities.

Does anyone really believe that Weyerhaeuser is going to stop deforesting because we ask nicely? Does anyone really believe that Monsanto will stop Monsantoing because we ask nicely? If only we get a Democrat in the White House, things will be okay. If only we pass this or that piece of legislation, things will be okay. If only we defeat this or that piece of legislation, things will be okay. Nonsense. Things will not be okay. They are already not okay, and they’re getting worse. Rapidly."

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/170/

[bigtree]

13. lack of hope

. . . there should be some appreciation for the negative effect a lack of hope can have on advancing any of your ideals or initiatives through the political system. Hope compelled many Americans to participate in the last election; folks who had lost faith in the system. The sentiment is mostly directed to the public, rather than to those in power.

I think we will need to maintain the hope (and resulting action) which carried Mr. Obama to victory, in order to keep voters engaged and active in pressing the legislators they elected to carry out the reforms you mentioned.

[Hannah Bell]

16. Hope is worthless. Yay, people "participated" in electing Obama - and?

if more "hope" is all they get, more hopelessness will be the denoument.

[bigtree]

19. the lie in that is the notion that 'hope is all they('ll) get'

Already, that notion has been made false by whatever dismantling and disengagement the transition has and will effect on the various agencies and offices of government. More is certain to occur. That's not to say that every plank of the last administration will be overturned, but there is unarguably a better opportunity to effect the changes we seek, beginning on Jan. 21, than there has been since 2001.

Isn't the vanquishing of hope actually an invitation to despair and apathy?

[Hannah Bell]

21. no, regular cycles of symbolism & sloganeering unaccompanied by concrete progressive

change is an invitation to despair & apathy.

[bigtree]

24. you are not accurately representing the reality of this election

. . . or the potential ahead for the realization of those hopes which were 'electioneered' during the campaign.

I'm as cynical as the next guy, but I really don't know how candidates (and activists and advocates, as well) would be able to rally support without symbolism & sloganeering.

[Hannah Bell]

28. eat your hope, then.

i prefer food.

[bigtree]

30. you are presenting it as an 'either, or' choice

It's not; and, it's not being presented here as an 'either, or' choice.

We can hope and act together, if we wish, with great effectiveness. I don't know where you get the idea that hope somehow binds us or prevents us from effectively acting on them.

[Hannah Bell]

32. i don't know where you get the idea that i think hope binds "us" from action.

my questions to you:

1. if "we" can act effectively "if we wish," why haven't "we"?

2. if "we" can act effectively "if we wish," what is the role of political leadership?

3. who is your "We"? how does it coordinate itself? how does it fund itself? how does it tell itself a common story? how does it decide what "effective action" is?

4. who is "we" to the obama admin?


practical matters, not slogans.

[bigtree]

33. we still have to deal with the divided nature of Congress

The effort to vote in legislators who will respond and act on our concerns is a work in progress. I don't think anyone can argue that we have a unified legislature.

Effective political leadership should be made responsive to our needs and concerns through our advocacy and our votes. I don't think it can be successfully argued that our participation outside of the elections (and in voting, as well) has been at levels where we can really expect to pressure recalcitrant legislators to support our initiatives. That advocacy is a work in progress.

'We' (meaning our political selves) are a coalition which is necessarily broad enough to put us in a position to actually advance our agenda in the political arena. That's not some automatic thing. Our coalition who has chosen to organize under the Democratic banner is as diverse as the needs and concerns around the nation. it's just not simple or easy to reconcile all of those into action, but we are tasked by our democracy to try.

The Obama administration will be as responsive to our concerns as the strength of our advocacy (which is most effectively done through our legislators we elect). 'We' are as powerful as we act. None of that action is generated without some hope.

[arcadian]

34. You rally support by being truthful.

Not by making nebulous empty promises.

[bigtree]

36. electing folks has never been that easy

wish that it was

[arcadian]

37. So, you admit that Obama utilized a false image of "hope" in his campaign

to get votes?

[bigtree]

38. no

I'm 'admitting' that issues and ideas are regularly broken down in campaigns into snippets which generate attention and appeal. That effort is as much a reflection of the attention span of voters as it may be of the integrity of the campaigners. We wish that voters would be attracted and attentive to policy discussions and platform papers, but the reality is that the info they receive in a campaign is necessarily brief and clipped for their easy consumption because that's what they respond to.

In that effort, I believe the Obama campaign has been mostly open and honest. You may well have an argument that on some issue they've been less than that. But, overall, I think we got what he sold us in the campaign, for better or worse.

[jberryhill]

23. It's a thread about a piece of art - and some people are just too thick to understand that /nt

[Hannah Bell]

26. thread title: "LOVE" sculptor has new message for Obama era

but some people are too thick to understand

[truedelphi]

14. For me the worst hope of all is that hope you hear here

Let's hope after they are in office, they will wake up, understand the problem and do the right thing..

let's hope after the mid term elections are over they will be able to take action

let's hope and hope and hope etc.

How about the underrated word "action"??

[bigtree]

18. I think you are overestimating the capacity of most Americans to remain engaged

. . . enough to influence the political process. Hope is a good starting point; a good motivator.

I think there's a misunderstanding that this is meant to be the 'symbol' of the new administration. It was enough of a rallying ideal to bring folks together and get us to the point where we are in an ultimate position to act upon and within our political institutions of government and the military. Hope is not something which should be spuriously discounted and discarded.

[Hannah Bell]

20. no, unless its backed with real action & real change, it's a big DEMOTIVATOR.

People stay engaged when they feel their actions & support have an effect. Without that, they become more cynical & apathetic the next time around.

The political system is designed to achieve demotivation. Purposefully so, IMO.

Why has the US, by many measures, become more cynical & disengaged v. the WWII generation?

Those folks could see real change for the better in their own lives. Their descendants, for the most part, don't.

[bigtree]

22. Our political system is designed for change and participation

We've yet to see a level of participation from the public that is necessary to effect the changes most of us agree should occur. This election was a good beginning though.

The best levers we have after the presidential election are through our legislators. Hope can compel Americans to press these legislators to act on their behalf. If they don't act, we'll still need some sort of faith in someone we elect - that is, if we actually believe in our democracy.

You can see the hurdles. They require that we stay engaged after we vote. As Lou Reed says, 'It takes a busload of faith to get by.'

[Hannah Bell]

25. if it were designed for participation, we'd see participation. it's

designed to formally be participatory, but de facto exclude the majority from significant participation, to preserve that right for money.

[bigtree]

29. now you're drifting into despair

In order to effect the changes you seek, we will need to increase the engagement of Americans. That effort has to be driven from without government, as well as from within.

I'd try and generate our own motivations to effect change in our political system which engages as many folks as possible. Certainly campaign reform can be a part of that quest which would lessen the monopolizing influence of corporations and other industries.

I think we just saw 'participation' in record numbers. This isn't a time to be cynical. Hopeful, at this point, isn't an unreasonable attitude.

[bigtree]

10. Because I do not hope to turn again

Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man’s gift and that man’s scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?

Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is
nothing again

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessèd face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice


--excerpt from 'Ash Wednesday' by, T. S. Eliot

[readmoreoften]

15. Hope=Keep wishin' suckers cuz you ain't gettin shit.

Hope might be an OK campaign slogan. But after the campaign is over "total goddamn social transformation" is what needs to happen or the campaign promise is unfulfilled. It is better than Kerry/Edwards' "Hope is on the way". That one really irked me. What? It's ON THE WAY? HOPE ISN'T EVEN HERE YET? VOTE FOR US AND AT SOME POINT TOTAL DESPAIR WILL DISSIPATE? Now that's optimism.

Just like Alexander Pope said about the meaning of Hope "Man never is/but always to be blessed."

But then again, most people's 'hopes' were dashed when he set it up so that the 'change' wouldn't happen.

[Starry Messenger]

4. Wow! A million dollars raised.

Guess artists are good for something after all! :sarcasm: One of my biggest hopes for the new administration (after the saving the country bit) is that the arts will be encouraged again. Thank you Robert Indiana!

[Hannah Bell]

17. yay! a million for an already wealthy "artist" recycling his old "art"!

what a coup!

sure, i can see that will translate into billions for penniless unknown artists everywhere in an obama admin!

[Lorien]

35. The money was raised for the Obama campaign

and I will never, ever, begrudge any other artist their success. That ANY of us do well for ourselves gives HOPE to those that are struggling. Being a self employed artist is a tough gig with a lot of dues.

[Sultana]

7. I Love It

:)

That LOVE one is so pretty.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

27. I LOVE it!

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

From the Shawshank Redemption...

K&R

[Number23]

31. Love it!!

"His publicist says the artist raised more than $1 million for the Obama campaign by creating "HOPE" prints, posters, T-shirts and other memorabilia."

Fantastic!