>Art doesn't have to "do good."


I don't wanna get into the 'what is art' debate. But at the very least we need to overcome the intrinsic warm fuzziness some of us attribute to the term.

Art can be crude, and hateful, and obscene and mean and dangerous. Art can be evil.

Like, I'm incredibly passionate about the medium of comics. And by and large, my feelings are very positive about the form. I think they are art. Chick Tracts (these little gems, for the uninitiated: http://www.chick.com/default.asp) are some of the most ignorant, intolerant, and downright hateful little things I've ever seen. They're absolute garbage. But they're still comics, and they're still art. Whether I like that or not.

EDIT: And that's not even to say art has to be good OR evil. Even that would be limiting. I'm not so sure it has to do anything, to be honest with you.