Why the Artitude?: The Reason You Must Read This Boring Blog
Unveiling the Purpose and Passion For the Newest of the World's over 600 million blogs
Hussein Merghani’s watercolor of hundreds of people from Atbara traveling to join the sit-in at the military headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan in April 2019.
According to available data, there are over 600 million blogs on the internet. That is more than enough blogs to serve the interest of the world’s estimated 8 Billion population. If that is the case, there needs to be a thorough explanation why anybody would create yet another boring blog to bore the brains of the free people of the world. This is me trying to defend my adventure in blogging. I solemnly swear that I am up to a ton of good - trust me.
One more thing before we get to it, I promise I’m not here to bore you with some emotional stories about how I discovered my passion during the lockdown or about how I had an epiphany sometime on the road. I am going to try my best to keep myself out of the way while I explain the reason why this boring blog is for you.
The Importance of Art
Why does art even exist? what is so important about books, poems, movies, music, paintings, sculpting, etc? Why do we need them? Why do they have the effects they do? Why have they been tools of influence all through the history of the world? These and many questions do not occur to many art consumers and even art creators. What’s the deep-seated purpose of art? If you asked the average member of society these questions, you may not get any serious answers.
However, we cannot imagine a society without Art. The novel, Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury provides a purview into how dystopian society can become without art. It is difficult to deny the importance of art in society.
Nonetheless, it is equally easy to bank on the surface meaning of it all and forget that art is past a chill down my spine or a burst of adrenaline. It is way past the tears we cry and the laughter. Underneath the joy of every happy ending we see at the cinemas and theatres is a greater purpose and importance that we can all ignore: that art can affect the quality of lives we live as individuals and societies.
The Art of Apartheid South-Africa
While you may not be fully aware of it, there are many essential moments and movements in the history of our world that are either tied to art or happened as a reaction to art. a clear case study is Apartheid South Africa where the music of artists like Hugh Masekela, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Miriam Makeba, Johnny Clegg, and Brenda Fassie were weapons for fighting the dark hand of the draconian regime. Most notable are Hugh Masekela’s Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela) and Miriam Makeba’s Soweto Blues which was written by Hugh Masekela.
Miriam Makeba performing
Quick history fact: The Apartheid government sent Miriam Makeba out of South Africa, afraid her musical success would cause them problems in the long-run
Apartheid South Africa wasn’t only rich in musical art forms. there were poems like Oswald Mtshali's ‘Boy on a Swing’ and stage plays like The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona.
Of course, it’s easy to conclude that art of this nature is only made when there is a crisis. This school of thought would classify such works of art under “Propaganda Art.”
The “Wakanda Forever” Fever
However, there was no particular crisis when the Wakanda Forever” fever hit the black world in 2018.
picture of the late Chadwick Boseman. credit: PREMIUM TIMES NG
The release of the movie created a sense of pride in Africans and people of black origin around the world. The fact that an African nation was depicted in a movie as the highest civilization in the world gave rise to a change in the stereotypes imposed upon Africans and black people by the Western world.
For a movie that made us scream and jump with delight at its amazing choreography, it would be hard for any African to deny that it made him feel like his blood was made of liquid gold. It was meant to be just a movie, but it was more. It affected the perception about Africa and Africans, thus changing the status quo.
That's how important art can be: it can shift the paradigm of society easily.
The Artitude’s Intention
What I intend to do with this blog is bring our attention to how powerful art is and how it really works: both for the creators and the spectators. This would help each group do its job in a more healthy manner. The creators will create better while the spectators will do their jobs with a higher level of efficacy.
Who Should Read The Artitude?
The short answer is everybody. This blog will be the art education we all should have gotten but didn't get: artists and non-artists alike. It would inform your artitude: that’s the way you interact with art. You would get to understand why and how art is just an idea coated in aesthetics and glimmer to make you swallow bitter pills.
What To Expect (and Not Expect)
It is important that I keep our imaginations (both yours and mine) on a leach. The Artitude is not your everyday blog that talks about art on the surface and leaves the meat out. That means you shouldn’t come expecting things that would just amuse you (although I plan to amuse you). It would be more cognitive in its orientation as it would help you become a better art participator. So expect thought-provoking topics that would touch you to the very core.
Most topics (hopefully all) would be added to different categories known on substack as “tags.” This would make it possible for you to know exactly what nature of content you are reading. Below is a list of all the tags currently available
Art Education
Any post with this tag will teach you something about art. These kinds of posts will teach you how to be a better artiste or a consumer of the same.
Art History
Reading any post in this category will take you back in time and unfold some truth about art. It could be the history of an artist, a work of art, an art movement, etc.
Art Review
These kinds of posts will focus more on giving a thorough review of either a work of art, art-related products, and any other things that may deserve a review.
Art and Technology
There is no doubt that technology influences art in a lot of ways. The recent craze at the moment is AI. It is important for us to know how this new development and other technological advancements (past, present, and future) influences art.
Art Essay
This is for the really nerdy and academic guys. Any post that carries this tag will be exceptionally long and boring. It would be written in academic style and would of course tackle topics you only expect to find within that setting. However, I'll try my best to make it relatable for everyone.
N.B The categories might increase in the future as I hope the Artitude gets bigger and better. It's also noteworthy that while most posts will have a particular category, they might have elements from other categories. In such instances, the elemental categories would be seen as subcategories. This current post for instance would fit into Art Education because that's where it basically belongs. However, there are elements of Art History here and there. I would also try my best to stick my head in one category per post ( although it's unlikely I would succeed).
Plans For The Future?
It is pretty basic a plan. at the moment, all I want to do is blog about art and help your artitude. however, there are things to look forward to in the future. Substack is a very great platform that offers me the ability to go beyond writing. I can also run a podcast, receive payments, and also to create special content of various kinds. I am hoping to explore all of these options as time goes on. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
My Call To Action
I hope I was able to make you see reasons why you should read the artitude and follow everything I do here. I will be posting every Friday and would drop daily content on my note space on substack and on all my social media handles. while we await my next post which would be published next week Friday, I would ask you to do three little things for me. They are the three big Eses every substack writer would ask you for:
1. Subscribe
This would help us keep our relationship working properly. I can easily communicate with you if you subscribe to my substack. My blogs will always be delivered to you as a newsletter and you will be the first to know about anything I do. So please enter your mail below and subscribe.
2. Share
It would be a delight if you shared the artitude with your friends, enemies, and friendnemies. Do it now and do it for every post. We both know it’s not good to keep goodness to yourself.
3. Support
Yes!!! You can support the artitude financially. You can make a pledge and opt-in to be a paid subscriber. I hope we both live to see that day.
Thank You For Sharing Sir.