nazi art and arabstract art

[aliked...@hotmail.com]

we usually associate representational art with government attempt to
control the arts.
for example, nazis promoted their brand of neo-classical art and the
soviets had socialist realism. and maoists had comicbook style art
with simple blaring colors.

the assumption is representational art is simple, obvious, and more
instructional than abstract forms of art. indeed, one may argue that
abstract art is too subversive to be promoted as official art by an
authoritarian or totalitarian regime.

but what about islamic art? now, this isn't to say islamic art is
technically abstract, at least in the western--or modern--sense. but,
because islam forbids representation of the human form, arab artists
had to resort to all sorts of abstractions which transformed the
phonetic ararphabets into something like chinese calligraphy(which
began as pictograms). if not quite abstract, it still qualifies as
arabstract.

though a conservative and rigid culture, islam prohibited the simplest
forms of artistic expression(one to one representation which existed
since caveman times).
and the taliban destroyed all the representational paintings they could
get their hands on and smashed buddha statues that were considered
idolatrous. they would smashed islamic statues as well if such
heretical objects existed.

so, could one argue that nazi and soviet promotion of representational
art over abstract art was more a matter of historical accident than due
to any intrinsic 'conservative' or 'authoritarian' quality of
representational art?
indeed, many of today's modernists and postmodernists have a purist
contempt for representational art. though they champion artistic
freedom, their emotions are often just as intolerant and derisive as
that of the nazis and soviets.

could we have a totalitarian government that ONLY supported abstract
art? in a way, couldn't abstract art--like music which is
absract--also be a powerful tool to promote a certain ideology?
indeed, hebrews forbid idolatrous--representational-- art yet they were
far more conservative and rigid than the progressive and inventive
greeks who were more representational than any other culture.

[Samuel Vriezen]

aliked...@hotmail.com wrote:

> indeed, many of today's modernists and postmodernists have a purist
> contempt for representational art. though they champion artistic
> freedom, their emotions are often just as intolerant and derisive as
> that of the nazis and soviets.
>

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

--
samuel
http://composers21.com/compdocs/vriezens.htm

Nobody out there but us. And I can never figure out who that was or will
be, much less is.

- Charles Bernstein