Responsibility in Art

I just got back this afternoon from an interview on NPR, at their main office in DC. It was a taped interview for the show, "On the Media" and should sometime soon .

UPDATE: the interview will air this weekend, but you can already hear the interview if you click on the link on their web site here).

Altogether, I think the interview went well-- during the interview, however, some of the statements I made in my earliest posts were referenced, seemingly with an eye to highlighting political controversy-- I have since edited those posts, and moved them to another blog, to hopefully eliminate any such controversy, as my goal in this weblog is not to be a political blogger, but to do what I stated in my first post:

"I will endeavor to show a realistic view of the war through the eyes of one on the ground, while also being truthful to the long, rich history of combat art and the art of picture-making itself."

In another part of the interview, some questions were raised as to the artistic guidelines for my work-- what I choose or don't choose to paint about, and why or why not I might paint about certain things. (For example, why I didn't paint a picture of the dead insurgent I saw on one patrol, and why I don't tend to show any negative images, etc...)

I explained in the interview that I believed all artists had a responsibility to be professional and responsible in what they produce, as well as to be faithful in accurately portraying Reality with their work.

Combat artists are not in the business of propaganda, nor do they have any political axe to grind. Rather, they are given the task of going to war and portraying that reality through traditional artistic media.

I think perhaps a lot of people are unaccustomed to what combat art is, and have certain presuppositions about Marine Corps Art and Marines in general. It also seems that some people believe that combat art isn't about truth or accuracy. The body of work in the Marine Combat Art Collection certainly gives no evidence for that assertion. (See other examples here).

And I hope that my answers in the interview, as well as my continuing body of work, will disabuse people of any false presuppositions they may have about combat art.