The Price of Art

"In an atmosphere of liberty, artists and patrons are free to think the unthinkable and create the audacious; they are free to make both horrendous mistakes and glorious celebrations."

Ronald Reagan 

Photo by Erik de Castro / Reuters

I want the government to support the arts, whether through endowments or through securing the physical and artistic space it needs to flourish. But I also understand that it’s inherently counterintuitive to expect government support while wanting to keep politicians from being the arbiters of what is and isn’t art.  If you want to dip into the government’s kitty, you’ll be damn sure they’ll have something to say about it.

It has the makings of a perfectly dysfunctional relationship. On one hand you have politicians, who as such, will almost certainly align themselves with the conventional and popular. Art, on the other hand, is the temple of the dissenter. It will always manage to offend. It’s an inevitable cultural flashpoint.

Of course, it never hurts to aspire for the ideal. Someday our leaders will have the courage to admit that they’re in no position to say what’s artistically acceptable. In fact, no one is. People will be able to look at a piece of work and think, “This is offensive. I hate it,” and move on knowing that it’s the price we pay. On that day, our conservative society will have come to grips with the fact that in a liberal democracy we won’t always like what we see and hear.

Until then, strap in your immoral-RH bill-loving-divorce-hugging ass for a grueling ride. Because art will continue to provoke. And it will inspire. It will push boundaries. It will introduce new ideas and it will reinvent old ones. It won’t always be comfortable and pretty, but in the end we’ll be better for it.

Calling the Kettle Black

While working on iVote.ph in 2007, former senator Zubiri was one of the few candidates we encountered who had a clear legislative agenda. We were finding it difficult to contact the different campaigns and get their candidate’s platforms and stands on issues, so we had to go directly to some of the headquarters. His was one of the few that had that information ready. It was comprehensive, thought out, and wasn’t reduced to a vomit-inducing collection of platitudes arranged in a banal mnemonic device. “J-O-B-S” – cue eye roll. I ended up voting for him on those merits.

I have mixed feeling over his resignation today. I don't know if he was willingly involved in the manipulation, or if he knew his votes were being padded for him, or if he simply turned a blind eye to feign ignorance. Regrettably, the only thing the cynic inside me knows for sure of is that everyone, in one way or another cheats, or as they like to put it, “protects their votes.” No side is completely free of guilt. The sooner we accept that, the faster we get to move on to fixing the problem.

Part of me knows that one day we’ll have to draw the line and start holding our officials on a higher ethical standard. As much as I’d like today be that day, the only thing we’ve gained is an empty senate chair. Not a victory for accountability and truth but just another roll of the dice in a game of snakes and ladders. Votes were padded and shaved, that much is certain. But with elections predisposed to rigging by all sides, we’re no closer to the truth that really matters – who won.

I don’t mean to defend anyone involved in election fraud, but it does us no good to be selective with our indignation. The danger is that we’re helping politicians reduce electoral protests into a game of gotcha – losing candidates clutching on to any shred of evidence of a crime they’re probably guilty of themselves, and amplifying it to cast as much doubt a possible on the accuracy of the results. It becomes all about the theatrics – perception over verifiable data.

What we have is a compromised electoral system. It taints all those who choose to participate, even those with the cleanest of intentions. While we’re preoccupied with the spectacle of today’s dramatic yet inconsequential events, we ought to be looking at how to make the system work. Last year’s election wasn’t perfect, with some facets needing an overhaul. Electoral reform doesn’t end with automation. We need to have a broader discussion that includes strengthening of our party system, campaign finance, and a whole host of issues that affect how we select our representatives. Then again, that’s a whole other entry in itself.