Last Friday, I had the actor and writer Clifton Duncan on the livestream to talk about the conundrum of the artist in an age of political polarization. As some of you know, he’s currently working on a one man show about the life and work of Thomas Sowell, a topic very dear to me. In fact, the last time I saw Clifton in person was at October’s conference, “The Sowell Legacy,” which I co-organized. (I’m currently co-editing a collection of talks from that event, and I’ll be sure to let you know when we have a publication date.)
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Besides his theatrical work, he also writes essays about art, politics, and identity for his Substack, The State of the Arts. A few of his most recent pieces caught my attention, so I thought I’d invite him back for another conversation.
What struck me most about talking with Clifton and reading his writing is the narrow channel he’s trying to navigate. On the one hand, as he says in this conversation, he doesn’t think art should avoid politics or that artists should shy away from expressing their political views in their work. Plenty of “timeless” art was created in response to political events, and there is no reason why today’s artists should feel compelled to do any different.
On the other hand, politics can become a problem for art and artists when ideological fealty takes precedence over craft. I think Clifton is arguing not for a specific political vision that would include art but for the value of art in itself and for art’s unique ability to explore and communicate universal human experiences through portrayals of the specific and singular. When a society fails to value that, it risks falling into philistinism and forgetting a crucial aspect of its humanity.
Clifton, for one, is on a crusade against philistinism. While I may not have his knowledge of craft, or his commitment to the artist’s life, I’m happy to serve as an ambassador for that mission.
