The power of the heavily laden rucksack

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/16/notebook-heavily-laden-rucksack

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At a time of sensitivity, everyone should do their bit. This includes the heavily bearded young man in black combat gear carrying a heavily laden rucksack who boarded a Central Line train in east London on Saturday evening. No one can know what was in his mind. But as the train pulled out of the station, he rose to his feet and moved towards the doors, where he slowly opened his jacket and began ostentatiously adjusting what looked like a military style vest underneath. Then he moved back to the aisle, dragging his rucksack along the floor, and held himself up as if ready to make some pronouncement. He said nothing. Passengers said nothing. But with the capital on the highest state of alert, he caused apprehension at the very least, and appeared to enjoy doing so. Maybe he is a man with issues. Maybe he was a prankster and spent the evening telling his friends what an amusing stunt he had contrived, on the day news of the murder of David Haines broke. Perhaps it was his symbolic embrace of newly acquired power – the power to intimidate. I can understand that. I remember travelling down Tottenham High Road after the 1985 riots and noting that, for the first time, shell-shocked police – tokens of a repressive establishment – seemed afraid of me. Let’s be charitable and suppose that the whole thing was entirely innocent. Even then, he might be mindful of how his behaviour could be interpreted in a time of heightened tensions. We really are all in this together.

The art of conflict

Cultural hot potato Exhibit B, the live installation by South African artist Brett Bailey, opens in London next week. There may have been a time during which the notion of having black actors chained in cages for inspection by the visiting public could have passed without adverse comment. But then came the 1900s, and with them a new sensibilities. So there stands the Barbican, determined to defend the work, obliged perhaps to do so for fear of being seen to capitulate to those who question its moral and artistic integrity. Assailed by protesters – 300 of whom demonstrated outside the venue on Saturday – arguing that the good intentions behind the project cannot justify the degradations of the concept itself. And suddenly obliged to fight for art’s right to offend and shock. Art does have the right to offend and shock. Such art has merit. A Guardian review praised Exhibit B as “both unbearable and essential”. Artists have the right to push the envelope, so long as they remain within the law. But art doesn’t have a free pass. The same rights and freedoms legitimise those who will, through legal means, rubbish the artist, castigate the Barbican and stop the show if they can possibly do so. Daily protests are envisaged. Controversial art grabs the headlines, and it’s a moneyspinner, but it’s a two-sided coin. You pick up one, you pick up the other.

Engaging England

Whatever the result of this week’s Scottish referendum, it’s been heartening watching the very people assumed to have retired from the political process arguing one way or another. Would that we could replicate that south of the border. Last week, venturing on to a London high street to ask people about party allegiance, I expected some resistance. What I didn’t predict was that so many would declare their complete lack of interest with pride. “I am not interested in man’s laws, I answer to a higher power,” one beefy storekeeper told me. That’s all very well, I said, but what about life on Earth? I imagine you’re glad of the police who keep the area safe. You like having your trash taken away, your street lights lit, the roads outside maintained, not least so you can transport stock. You want the fruits of political engagement. You just can’t be bothered to get your hands dirty. You’ve basically subcontracted your responsibility to the likes of me. His eyes narrowed. I disengaged from him. He was beefy, as I say.