Letter to the Editor
The Art School Decalogue
I would like to draw the attention of our small
community at the SAIC to a trend that I call “Art School Orthodoxy.”
Under normal circumstances, it manifests itself as a subtle bias originating
with the teachers (and reinforced by the students) of an extreme postmodern,
multicultural relativism. With the impending war with Iraq, and the continuing
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this trend has started expressing itself politically.
Perhaps the most disturbing part of Art School Orthodoxy is that it is not stated.
By not stating such influential presuppositions, one in effect puts them beyond
the realm of doubt, or, in other words, makes them articles of faith. I have
therefore taken it upon myself to make explicit what would otherwise be the
unstated premises of the silent majority, with the modest hope that people might
think twice about these important issues.
1. Art is the Lord thy God.
2. You shall not take religion seriously. Religion is for the weak-minded.
3. You shall not elect a Republican before you. Republicans are the enemies
of Art.
4. You shall be a staunch pacifist. All war is evil.
5. You shall not speak of “Objective Truth,” for your guess is as
good as mine.
6. You shall see the terrorist’s point of view, for their guess is as
good as ours.
7. Court controversy, for it pleases the Lord thy God.
8. You shall be multiculturalist, but do not criticize non-Western cultures,
for they are beyond your understanding.
9. You shall not sell out. Selling out is worse than starving.
10. Prosaism is the Prince of Darkness.