Hope is a Dangerous Thing
"Art is the highest form of hope," the German painter Gerhard Richter wrote in a 1982 Documenta 7 exhibition catalogue. His words have reverberated through my art and creative pursuits in the years since I first read them.
I have lost hope in a multitude of capacities in the past three years. My dream was upended when covid caused the arts organization I was working for in London to shut down, eventually causing me to lose my job, and throwing my career off kilter since. I eventually had to leave my home and city I loved, and end a long term relationship.
As I have written on here previously, art brought glimmers of hope back - unexpected jazz music on an autumn evening, the connections that came through sharing more of my own art, rediscovering the joy of communal reading through a weekly book club.
Yet, I also remember keenly the pain of trying to create art in the wake of broken hope. It’s almost impossible. Or at least it was for me. To create is to see potential in the world around us, and for a while, I saw none.
I have spent most of my life searching for hope. But what if the project of an artist is about practicing hope?
The musician Nick Cave often talks about this in his newsletter Red Hand Files. He is someone who has suffered tremendously - through the tragic deaths of two of his sons and his battle with addiction. Yet, his commitment to the world, the work, and his community remains present.
Because of his experience, he often receives letters from people in the depths of depression and loss, struggling to find a way to keep going. His advice is always the same -
If we do not attend to the work of projecting delight upon the world, what are we actually doing? If we do not look for joy, search for it, reach deep for it, what are we saying about the world? […] For me, to strive toward joy has become a calling and a practice. It is carried out with the full understanding of the terms of this hallowed and harrowed world.1
Hope is, as Lana Del Rey sings in one of my favorite songs of hers, "a dangerous thing for a woman like me to feel."
Hope is dangerous, because with hope there is potential for change. Hope is a political action. It is impossible to feel hope and be detached from the world - it requires an opinion, a desire, a posit of meaning.
This reminds me of the main character in Brave New World. Most dystopian stories take place in a world without hope, and the conflict emerges when a character begins to feel hope for something more -
Without hope there is no consequential action, and without consequential action there is no story. No dystopian story gets going until someone wonders whether things could stand to be a little less savage and miserable. This wondering, better known as hope, is the catalyst for all dystopian stories.2
As someone who grew up during the holocaust and who's uncle and aunt died at the hands of the Nazis, Richter is especially familiar with this project. His art, the giant blurs of paint spread across canvas, mark his belief in his work and its place in the world.
The ability to believe is our outstanding quality, and only art adequately translates it into reality.3
Enjoying… since I last wrote I spent two week in the UK over the holidays. Full recap coming soon to the newsletter, but until then, yes, it rained every day, yes, the Tesco meal deal price increased, yes, I adored the National Portrait Gallery renovation, and yes, I miss the best city in the world.
Reading… After hearing that I read Emily St. John Mandel, my roommate lent me her copy of Piranesi. It’s one of those books that is hard to summarize, which is why I like it. It doesn’t fit into a neat box or narrative arc. The story didn’t necessarily connect with me, but it was an engaging magical realism story nonetheless.
Inspired by… snow falling, always.
Listening to… I’m convinced that Lana Del Rey is one of the best contemporary song writers. Her lyrics cut to the core of the instability, search for authenticity, and desire for belonging of contemporary women. A few of my favorites: Love, Radio, Cinnamon Girl, Let the Light In (feat. Father John Misty).
Question of the Week
What gives you hope?
“Hope is optimism with a broken heart.”
- Nick Cave
Richter