Obey

by Aldo Tambellini

2’ x 2’ • Aldo Tambellini Limited Edition Digital Art (number 2 in a series of 10)

My poems, in this show, "stripping the poem to its bare essential," as stated in my poem "If the Poem is Graffiti", means challenging all of the established institutions to look at the world and see how they are contributing to its demise. In my work, I rebel against the tradition of poetry as expounded by those poets whose work is self-serving and has little, if any, social and political tones. It is the mission of the "guerrilla poet" to challenge and bravely stand as a single voice of integrity and truth. My poems are the graffiti written on the walls of people’s minds reminding them of their social and political obligations to humanity I have been a video artist since the early seminal work in the 60’s in New York’s Lower East Side. Most of my work has recently centered around poetry, the writing, reading and publishing of poems which deal with the politics of culture, gender, social class and the politics of war. I was 14 years old when in Italy, my neighborhood was bombed and I saw 21 of my neighbors become the proverbial "collateral damage" of the war. I decided to confront today’s global crisis through the spoken word, written text and manipulated mass media imagery by creating this digital film I call LISTEN. I find that the opportunity to bypass the "establishment" and to bring my message through my art directly to the people fulfills a mission which I have always embraced: providing the artists with a voice to enlighten, educate, and have an impact on all the people. This becomes not art for the few in a privileged social and political position; but, art for the many. (As the introduction to the video states.) I believe that the political situation of today mirrors a similar period in y lifetime, a period under which I grew up, a period which affected me and has been the focus of my work. That period preceded World War II in Italy. As an artist, I have an obligation to analyze the political trends and using the filters of my own experience, I make art that informs and challenges and makes people think. The Guerrilla Art exhibit is giving me the opportunity to display my work which would have otherwise gone unnoticed for it is not esthetically or politically pleasing nor does it deal with a popular subject.