On the ‘Temples of Our Times’ Cartoon Series

Leotmrdo, Vol. 9, p. 121. Pergamon Press 1976. Printed in Great Britain O N THE ‘TEMPLES OF OUR TIMES’ CARTOON SERIES Natalied’Arbeloff* The cartoon reproduced with this Note is the first in a series that I am drawing under the title the ‘Temples of Our Times’. The series is based on my observations of the behaviour of human beings when enclosed within the fixed boundaries of social concepts and of institutions . I was reared and work in those concepts, nevertheless, I realize that some of our behaviour, when examined in a detached way, appears strangely ritualistic and often comical. In ‘The Temple of Art’, I emphasize the absurdity of some of the rituals that I find in the world of art around me, because of my reluctance to accept them as either necessary or desirable. I suppose that in the cartoon I am asking: ‘Can’t we have art without this Temple?’ But those who study it are likely to find other messages in it. As an art object, the cartoon can be regarded as an illustrated script for a one-act play or an operetta and some might find that it could serve as a design for wallpaper. * Artistlwriterliving at 6 Cliff Villas, LondonNW1 9AL, England. (Received 21 Oct. 1975.) Fig. 1. ‘The Tettiple of Art’, first cartoon in the series ‘Tetnples of O w Titries’, pen and ink on paper, 30.5 x 25.5 cm, 1975. 121 C ...