Local coffeehouse patrons have truly struck a mighty blow against the evil of Satan. His influence spreads everywhere - even to local percolation stations.
Paintings deemed “disturbing” and “satanic” were removed from the walls of The Cappuccino Café, 1500 W. Lake Lansing Road. Although the shop has been showcasing the art on its walls since January, this is the first time any work has had to be taken down.
The situation raises some interesting questions about the apparent clash between modern art and political correctness.
It wasn’t long ago that many in Congress were calling for all funding to the National Endowment for the Arts to be cut - largely because the endowment helps support some artists who make art deemed as “obscene” or “offensive.”
In fact, the really obscene thing is that artists - and everyone else in this country - are not able to express themselves freely.
Art is one of the most expressive forms of communication.
It can show emotions and feelings at all extremes, and then can put people at peace.
The trick is to get people to start to look deeper into the artist’s message.
Instead, it seems East Lansing coffeehouse patrons were unable to accept the paintings as simply different or interesting - they became monstrosities against humanity.
What purpose could an artist have in creating images that aren’t “pretty”? Although landscapes and flowers have been working for hundreds of years, they don’t always best express the emotion an artist feels about an issue in today’s society.
In this day and age, just about anything that could offend another person is immediately labeled evil. People who speak out against President Bush’s policies in the war on terrorism are labeled “un-American.” Those who have been talking about the problems of child abuse within the Catholic Church are said to be “anti-religion.”
People simply don’t allow room for judgment or different viewpoints, especially in our art.
And, yes, the case of the coffeehouse seems a little simple compared to other freedom of expressions issues.
It was, after all, completely within the business’s right to remove the paintings - if patrons don’t want to see something in a place of commerce, business owners tend to remove it.
But what even the small situations like this do is discourage a truly open forum for expression. Removing art from walls or cutting public funding - or whatever the issue may be - simply sends a message that art should be bland and tasteless - not unlike the brews people go to coffeeshops for.
It seems most large chains of coffee bars have figured this out, covering their walls with the barren desert landscape art we all have come to love.
