“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e. the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e. the standards of thought) no longer exist.” — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
(Rendering by Nora Ligorano, www.meltedaway.com)
This past weekend, the artist duo LigoranoReese, installed (three blocks from the Capitol building) a 2,000-pound sculpture of the word TRUTH carved in ice and let it melt away. Calling it a “one-word melting poem,” the artists said in a press release prior to its unveiling that their work, entitled, “Truth Be Told,” stands:
“. . . in contrast to the force and speed at which basic concepts of our nation’s history and governance are being undermined. What are we losing in the era of #fakenews? Combining message and medium, the unprotected work is intended to melt until it’s gone.”
This “temporary monument” was unveiled at 11 a.m. on Saturday and had completely melted by 11:30 p.m. During that time, the artists — accompanied by writers and poets — engaged in “public conversation” with passersby; conversation that they rendered into commentary, prose and poetry that can be read on the artists’ website. “Truth Be Told” is the sixth sculpture of the Melted Away series begun in 2006. Other temporary ice monuments include, DEMOCRACY broken; the ECONOMY ruined; the MIDDLE CLASS disappears; THE FUTURE is tenuous; and THE AMERICAN DREAM vanishes.
On Sunday afternoon, a “Truth Be Told: For Freedoms,” Panel Discussion was held at the Corcoran School of Art and Design. In addition to the artists, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese, participants included Danielle Brian from the Project on Government Oversight; Chip Gibbons, from Defending Rights and Dissent; and Thomas Melia from PEN America.
Let’s focus on Chip Gibbons from Defending Rights and Dissent. When he walked into the auditorium in his Converse sneakers, black turtleneck, and rumpled pants and suit jacket, Adrienne leaned over and whispered, “Oh, boy.” I thought, “What’s that kid doing here?” I overheard him talking to someone and was immediately reminded of Hermey, the elf who wanted to be a dentist in the 1964 Christmas special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Then the panel discussion started and Chip was handed the microphone. Good Lord, does this country have a more eloquent, articulate defender of rights and dissent? I furiously took notes as Chip spoke of his profound concern that our current President has become the “sole arbiter of truth.” Chip continued, “We have a racist game-show host in the Oval Office, who has given a green light to petty tyrants. Trump is an accelerant.”
Chip’s most challenging observation was that the greatest threat to truth in this country is not racists and white supremacists, or even our current President, but members of what he termed “the chattering class”; former government officials-turned-media pundits like James Clapper, John Brennan, James Comey, etc. — officials who are now seen as “saviors” of the truth though they lied repeatedly to members of Congress (“No, we don’t torture prisoners,” “Our interrogation techniques are humane”) when they held office. “Beware those who ask how could Trump happen in America,” warned Chip. “Trump is a product of America’s long assault on truth — not the cause of it.”
Chip ended his remarks with these questions: “Should there be any truth that is noble? Can we tell what is true? Is it even possible to know what is true?”
Is it? Or has truth indeed melted away?
Big Spark and Spitfire shout-out to Adrienne, who is a contributor to PEN America and signed us up for this event. Now, more than ever, we need to support organizations like PEN America, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), and Defending Rights and Dissent (DRAD). The websites to these three organizations are linked in this post.
A VERY alarming development regarding rights and dissent is the Trump administration’s policy that Chip calls “pre-censorship.” Organizations that want to protest/rally on the Mall in Washington, D.C. will soon be required to pay UP FRONT for police, security, the National Park Service, etc. — costs, which, of course, total millions of dollars. It will be interesting to see if these requirements are applied to Pro-Life and Pro-Israel protests/rallies.
Speaking of Pro-Israel, Chip shared that the Trump Administration is incrementally shutting down/forbidding/censoring/deeming illegal ALL PRO-PALESTINIAN organizations, no matter how small or large. It has become very dangerous to free speech to communicate anything that hints at being anti-Israel. What other organizations is this administration censoring?
I, too, would like to extend a shout-out to Adrienne. And, thank you, Sharie for including links to PEN America and the other organizations linked in your post. This morning after reading this post, I took your advice and googled James Clapper lies, John Brennan lies and James Comey lies. The number of links that appeared was staggering including many for Betsy DeVos and others. I am very disheartened how telling lies is the new “norm.” And now a Supreme Court justice nominee……. Chip may feel that Trump is not the cause of America’s long assault on truth, but Trump truly ushered in an atmosphere to keep the assault going for a long time.
Thank you, Merrie Lee, for your astute and thoughtful comment . . . and for taking the time to find out for yourself how lies fuel too much of our public discourse, particularly under the Trump administration.
This morning on my walk, I ran into Ron and his dog, Smokey. Ron and his husband, Joe moved to Greenbelt a couple of months ago. They could no longer afford a large home because Ron’s struggle with severe anxiety needed more costly treatment. Ron attributes much of the ramping up of his anxiety to the chaos of the current President. He was unable to go to work today because he made the “mistake of watching the news about Kavanaugh” and his anxiety kicked in big time. He’s such a lovely man . . . and a microcosm of much of the American citizenry.
Such a powerful piece. I can only imagine the impact that actually being there to watch the ice sculpture melt and then to hear the artists and speakers must have had! Trump as an “accelerant.” And “the chattering class.” Oh my! I have to confess that it’s been all too easy for me to applaud those of the “chattering class.” Anything/anyone anti-Trump has sounded just fine. I guess I need to sit up and pay closer attention! And Trump as product of a long assault on truth. Unfortunately, a product that has accelerated that assault on truth and now has poised himself to become the “sole arbiter” of what that truth is. Where do we go from here? I feel stumped and helpless–melting down, I guess. I’ve tried to talk with one or two Trump supporters, but the divide is just so vast–I know of no way to communicate. Maybe part of the problem is that if I talk about his untruths, the answer all too easily is, “well, Bill Clinton lied too.” Thanks for taking the time and effort to post this very thoughtful piece.
You are very welcome, Carol. Thank YOU for allowing yourself to take in the impact of this event, even from a distance.
Like you, I am melting down. This Kavanaugh debacle, the President’s smear about the FEMALE mayor of Puerto Rico, not to mention, his crass support of his Supreme Court nominee, his baiting of Iran . . . GRRRRRRRR . . . it was all I could do not to embrace Ron (who I’ve only run into twice) this morning and tell him that we’re going to get through this. We’re going to get through this. We’re going to get through this.
But are we?