[Oe List ...] 4/28/22 PHOTOS

Thu Apr 28 17:30:32 PDT 2022

Lynda, that looks like a picture of a television screen -- Could that be David McCleskey on the left?  I vaguely recall something about a series done in Texas ---  This from Letter to Laymen (CFLC) in March of 1962 :  "A pilot television presentationutilizing this approach to serious conversation and art has been madeby the Community (a transcript of which is on page three) incooperation with a New York television production company and movieproducer Stanley Kramer."
Full text here:  
THE RADICAL DEMAND TODAY

We areliving in an new age. It is a time of radical and comprehensiverevolution. In a manner of speaking. Western Civilization has reachedan end. Our total world view is undergoing transmutation affectingevery part, as well as the whole, of the human enterprise ofcivilization. Not only has Ptolemaic cosmology of the Middle Agesvanished, but Nations once modern model of the world as a greatmachine has dramatically collapsed. The expanding universe of Dr.Einstein is now penetrating every concept of life and image ofhistory. Man is launching forth on a brand new venture. 

Thishistorical crisis is not basically theoretical or abstract. On thecontrary, what is happening to us is very practical, very concrete.It is at once thoroughly personal and utterly social. Furthermore,the center of the revolution is located not in the political oreconomic facets of the civilizing adventure, but in the culturaldimension. "Culture" here means the common sense, thecommon symbols. and the common life-style of a people. Preciselybecause it is in these areas of our life where the present upheavalbecomes manifest, the center of gravity of the whole social body hasbeen shaken. And therefore, every sensitive and reflective individualon the street is deep]y involved. Of this he is aware, howeveruneven]y this awareness may be distributed among men.

Our commonman is certainly frightened by the new world about him, but cynics tothe contrary, he is also excited. He is acutely experiencing hisuniverse as complex, impersonal, mysterious, routine, paradoxical,tragic, capricious and so on. This is frightening indeed. Yet thesame individual is raising anew and in depth the question of what itmeans to be a real human being in the midst of this. Underneath thesuperficial readings, the reflective every day person is not reallytrying to ignore, dismiss and escape the new world and its demands.Rather, he is asking for practical images, symbols and more patternswhich will illuminate this new age and enable him to participatecreatively and as a genuine person, in the forging of the newresponses, personal and social, that the age requires. This need ofthe "average" man brings us to the artist and his work.

THEROLE OF ART

Art ishuman. It is necessarily a part of human life in both itsindividualization and socialization. It is not limited to specialgroups such as the leisure class or the intellectual strata. It is anessential part of life for all men. However unequal the exposure ofmen may be to significant art or the capacity of men to besignificantly present to art, no one can or does live without it.Here are unveiled the very basic questions: Is the art we live beforesignificant? And howdoes one live significantlybefore art.

Let us turnfirst to the question of whether the art to which one is exposed isgood or bad, true or false, adequate or inadequate. For our presentpurposes, three issues are raised: Integrity, relevance and utility.Does the artist speak THE ROLE OF ART (continued from page one) 

honestlyabout the human situation in his time? Does his work deal importantlyand compellingly with the basic and actual human needs and concerns ofhis world? Does it call forth in the viewer the kind of images thatwill enable him more adequately to forge his responses to the realworld about him? To speak of art in this fashion, is to insist thatart has a vital functional role in culture and society. Indeed, weare seeing today that art is very utilitarian in the rich and freshsense of genuinely contributing to the inner workings of the greatcivilizing venture of man.

Such a viewinsists that art is not a sophisticated capstone that is added tosociety when the basic tasks are done. It is rather an essentialingredient of society that affects the whole and every part, at everymoment. Furthermore, it follows that the role of art is not an escapevalve for the sophisticate at the end of an era, as many are wont tothink. Its most crucial hour is at the beginning of a new age whennew images are required. Indeed the very function of art is toquestion and destroy old, false, inadequate images and to prompt andcreate new authentic and useful models for practical human response.The everyday reflective man of our time is crying, as we have seen,for exactly this kind of assistance. 

Perhaps thisis the clue to the interest in art that our age is experiencing whichin depth and scope and variety has no equal in all history. In brief,there is emerging in the new world a fresh understanding of thefunction and place of art in civilization. To fulfill her role today,however, art may need an ally: serious conversation. This brings usto the third focus of the PROVOCATION series. (see page three)

THEPLACE OF SERIOUS CONVERSATION

Seriousconversation itself might well be considered an art. Not simply inthe sense of a skill-it surely is that-but in the sense of an artform. Be that as it may, it seems clear that it is an essentialcatalytic agent to the art form in our day. The contention is thatart, the indispensable midwife to the new man in the new world, isitself in need of a midwife if it is effectively to fulfill its rolein accomplishing significant psychological and social change.

The man oftoday, amidst his fears and bewilderments, wants to be aself-conscious historical being. He senses that history is made aswell as experienced and latently, at least, he yearns so toparticipate in it. This is to suggest that behind and in the midst ofthe twentieth century man's more observable struggles, is the problemof intentionality. He is no longer content to be simply a passivevictim of the impressions that play upon his inner history. Heinsists on being self-consciously present to those images andengaging in a dialogue with them. This means that he must becomeintentional about art. The question of PROVOCATION is: How can theman in the street learn to become intentional about the art thatspeaks to him in such a fashion that creative action ensues?

Seriousconversation is the means whereby one becomes self-consciouslyattentive in depth to the manner in which he is affected by a work ofart and the means whereby he is enabled to carry on his own dialoguewith the art object. This in turn both prompts and directs decisiveand creative action in the midst of the civilizing process.

Authenticdialogue in relation to art, is not primarily an educational endeavorin the sense of accumulating information, though of course this mayhappen in the midst of it. The art object and the way it speaks tothe individuals conversing supplies the content. The seriousconversation, where mind meets mind in reflection upon a commonobject and experience, enables one to articulate the impressions madeupon him and to draw them together for himself into a more or lesscomprehensive complex. This model is then brought to bear upon hisinner and outer historical situation in such a fashion that newpractical insights, meanings and strategies emerge, which bothmotivate and direct his activity. To say this another way, seriousconversation does not intrude ideas or images, but awakens the latentones that are already present, and occasions the birth of new ones.In and through this process, social change is initiated. Art plusdialogue equals intentional involvement in history.

To sum up:new and imaginative human responses to life are urgently required bythe new world about us. The art of the times injects into thissituation new images of human possibility. Serious conversationenables the individual to clarify these images in such a fashion thatfresh and imaginative responses can be forged. 
A pilottelevision presentation utilizing this approach to seriousconversation and art has been made by the Community (a transcript ofwhich is on page three) in cooperation with a New York televisionproduction company and movie producer Stanley Kramer.
Jim Wiegel  

Theunknown is what is.  And to be frightened of it is what sends everybodyscurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, allthat.  Unknown is what is.  Accept that it's unknown, and it's plainsailing.    John Lennon

401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353
623-363-3277

jfwiegel at yahoo.com

www.partnersinparticipation.com

    On Thursday, April 28, 2022, 04:50:02 PM MST, Lynda C via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:  

Looks like some photos from the hearing after the riots.  Who went with Joe on that trip to DC?  Lynda

From: OE <oe-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net> on behalf of OE List <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Reply-To: OE List <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Date: Thursday, April 28, 2022 at 10:44 AM
To: OE List <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Cc: Frank Knutson <frankknutson2 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Oe List ...] 4/28/22 PHOTOS

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