“When I say that war is the source of all
the arts, I also mean that it is the source
Of all the great virtues and faculties of men.”

(J. Ruskin)

I didn’t go to war:
Too young to have fought at home,
Too lucky not to have done it elsewhere.

According to some,
I have no chance of selling a brochure:
most committed people want to know about his past,
The less erudite one,
Of laughter or easy money.

Standing in the moist jaws of a trench,
In the musty suite of a tank,
shooting in the forehead of an enemy
(or even better if to a fellow soldier or civilian),
Copying the same letters to as many mistresses,
Feed or throttle useless hopes,
crying thinking:
to fertile fields (at least as barren as memories),
To easy women (far too many),
To reformed friends because they were too beautiful,
or, simply,
To life (not at all carefree),
Of the children now at war.

All this makes a man a writer.
With dissenting veneration of words,
also a poet,
With exquisite taste in furniture and draperies,
a screenwriter,
With horridness diluted in the veins,
one to be called only in rare cases
(Forewarning, however,
even a démodé amputee would have his share).

I, on the other hand,
That of all this cannot be anything,
I’m a gravedigger in a battlefield cemetery:
I bury books,
notebooks,
broken pens,
and here and there, the orphaned key of a rusty Olivetti.

I do my duty well
And at night, I drink vodka resignedly:
In this much united Europe,
of new wars
just don’t want to talk about it…

…and History,
With great disappointment,
you reread your hand without understanding much about it…

Deposited for legal protection with Patamu: certificate

A short critical note on the commodification of art

The Commodification of art has been a gradual process influenced by various factors ranging from the rise of consumer culture to technological advances. As art was increasingly seen as a commodity to be bought and sold, its intrinsic value and original purpose were often overshadowed by market demands and trends. This shift toward commodification has led to the spread of mass superficiality in the art world, where works of art are often judged by their commercial success rather than their artistic merit.

The proliferation of social media and digital platforms has further fueled this trend, creating a culture in which art is consumed quickly and superficially, often reduced to mere visual stimulation. Under pressure to create marketable pieces, artists may prioritize aesthetics over deeper meaning or originality, satisfying popular tastes rather than challenging them.

As a result, the art world has become saturated with commercialized and mass-produced works prioritizing profit over creativity and authenticity. This commodification has affected not only art but also the way society perceives and values it, contributing to a culture of superficiality and instant gratification.

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The post I did not Wage War appeared first on Giuseppe @ Bonaccorso.