Challenging the Status Quo

It is necessary in any functioning society that people challenge the status quo. Accepting the way things are is what leads countries into total control by the government. In many ways, messages sent out by the government, much like the advertisements of "liberty bonds" and idealization of war during WWI, can affect the population and if people don't resist, freedom is swiftly taken away.

Of course, much of what people think about when they think about challenging the status quo isn't to the government, it's to popular culture. But this is still just as vital to a society's well being.

If artists never challenged the church and broke away from realistic paintings of everyday life, or broke away from paintings of biblical scenes, we would have missed out on almost all of the "greats" of art. If the Voskuijls and Gies' never broke away from the status quo mindset of German's during World War II, Anne Frank's family would never have been able to survive in hiding as long as they did. Essentially, if the status quo is not challenge as much as possible, no progress in a society will ever take place.

However, it is impossible to 100% challenge the status quo of society because so much of our thoughts and morals are biased and based off of our condition in society. As much as we try to break free from any societal influence, it is impossible to neglect it entirely because it is so ingrained in us.

[Photo credit: Creap-- Flickr] Photo of rebellion on rebellion about rebellion...graffiti opposing the graffiti made about Che, a leader of rebellion.

Best Of The Week

Studying "mash-ups," bootleg culture and different ways people challenge the status quo has forced me to examine what I think about the way the music industry is starting to accept more and more "mash-up" art as cool new music. But my idea has mainly stayed the same-- while the music produced by artists like Girl Talk may not take as much technical skill as was required of the original artists, it's just a different type of creation and takes an imaginative and creative mindset.

Still, I think it's easier to defend the work of artists who "bootleg" content from other people to send out a clear public message, like Evolution Control Committee's "Rocked By Rape". This video sent out a clear message of defiance to the way the world is, and wanted to point out all of the destruction going on in our world. It sends an interesting message to those who have been desensitized to the constant explanation of horrific world events by the calm and collected newscasters of America. It is easy to defend works like this, that attempt to make a positive change or send out a message of awareness. However, it is nearly impossible to define bootleg work as "good" or "bad," which is why I would defend the rights of any artist who wants to use other material in his own work.

All artists are inspired by other art and other work, and it will come across in anything they create, but "mash up" style creation seems to me like it is just directly citing the other artist. Though they may not put the name in the credits, people know that what they're hearing is a compilation of other artists' work.

However, even though