No Estás Solo

Today, a headline from the Herald de Paris caught my eye.

The most important news story ever. Ever.

Every reader can decide for themselves if the headline is overkill, but a truth remains. Look for the abandoned places, wrecked with hard and unpleasant truths, and you will often find an artist there.

The new trailer for artist Chris Jordan's upcoming film, "Midway," was just released. Jordan has been documenting both the beauty and the horrors of an environmental tragedy, out of sight and out of mind, on far away Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The "Midway" trailer opens with the sound of a solo Spanish guitar that sets the mood perfectly. The quiet, contemplative, yet passionate, musical voice eases us into the visuals. The music builds and swells. The images provoke yet another connection to the theme of eating and sustenance, one that is very hard to stomach. Finally, we hear the voice of the artist.

Jordan asks, "Do we have the courage to face the realities of our time? And allow ourselves to feel deeply enough that it transforms us and our future?"

http://www.midwayfilm.com/




Has the legacy of Picasso the artist also informed our ears? Does the plaintive call of a solo Spanish guitar now serve as a shortcut into our collective subconscious, a sound reminding us to look carefully at things we do not wish to see? Picasso, the artist and humanist, dared the world to face tragedy with a clear eye. Through paintings such as Guernica, Picasso still challenges us to to feel the complex range of emotions that come with every war.

Feelings of indignation, confusion, compassion and sorrow, rather than indifference, are the proper response when witnessing the horrors that humans inflict upon the world.