We Killed the Future

May was going to be our future of art issue. When we killed the theme, the joke became that the future of art was dead. Alas, the truth is less ominous; we found that our writers, editors and artists wanted to deal with issues closer at hand, more immediate. We found ourselves asking, “Where are we going?” and to understand this we first had to ask, “Where are we now?” Our nation is at war and in an effort to control terrorism, our freedoms have also come under attack. The same issues that artists always deal with seem more pressing now. The present demanded attention.

As always, artists are dealing with issues of freedom of speech, which is highlighted in both an article about the censorship of Howard Stern and in censorship of an Iraqi newspaper. Identity politics are never far from the art world and this issue is re-thought with some analysis, and nation branding, another form of identity politics, is dissected. This month, many at SAIC grieved the loss of a beloved faculty member who helped to shape many developing artists. The present doesn’t just offer bad news. We find hope in high school students that are using art to improve their lives and SAIC graduates who have taken their art and shaped it into meaningful and successful careers. As always, there is plenty of art to look forward to this spring, summer and beyond. Indeed, our Ink supplement highlights some of the best artists and writers in the SAIC community.

The May issue of F News shows us that the artist has not forsaken the future, but that we are looking around and trying to evaluate where we are today. The future of art is still alive and kicking and will, no doubt, find itself gracing our pages soon. We killed the future