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| 243 A Return to Inquiry What do we mean by “social” and what do we mean by “action”? If we change those words to “art in the world,” does it change the outcome? What do we mean by art that values being part of the world, or in the world, or affecting the world? Does the meaning of art change if being social and being active are part of art’s reason for being? How does moving from purity to subject affect the art and the artist? Why do people think that as soon as there is subject matter there must be a message? Why do people think that art with a message is didactic? What is didactic, and how is calling something that a tactic to silence others? Why do we think that art with a message is only art with a social message? Why do we confuse message with subject matter? Looking at the subject matter of art in your lifetime, why do you have trouble with the oppression stories? Isn’t anger a useful byproduct of the theatrical experience? In what role do you put the audience when you tell sad stories, or scary stories , or victim stories? Isn’t empathy the major outcome of any art? Without empathy, how can people actually change? What do we mean by change? How does change happen? What is the rehearsal for change? Do we consider the moment of change to be the only moment of value? Who is doing the changing ? Why is change valued? What is wrong with contentment? Does merely pointing out a problem make art useful? Is usefulness actually useful? Isn’t art useful for itself? Is the problem not with art but with our own patterns around it? And is the problem with patterns not within the pattern but within our unwillingness to rethink? What is wrong with taking refuge in an unthinking approach to whatever we are doing? Could you be confusing unthinking with intuition? Is intuition good in your mind and unthinking bad? Are bad and good constructs that can help us in these situations? Why is making stuff the answer to everything? How come saving the world through art is still something worth believing in? Do you really think that art matters as much as food? And why do I still love the theater? ...

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