For myself and a lot of my colleagues, 2016 has been a bit of a mixed bag. The year has taken an ominous tone for the deaths of so many beloved entertainers alone, that by the tail end of the year there was a grim "who's next?" mentality.
Additionally, the geopolitical events of 2016 will have future historians scratching their heads in wonder. The peak of the civil war in Syria and the ensuing refugee crisis, the "Brexit" of Great Britain from the EU, and the victory of Donald Trump to become the next president of the (increasingly less) United States are just a few among the many baffling, unexpected and dangerous turns the world has taken within the year.
These events are not contained within a designated 365 day cycle. Celebrities we love will continue to die, wars will rage on, and the wounds and divisions in western superpowers will continue to fester. More problems will arise and more dangers will threaten us.
However, when great adversities appear, we also see the rise of righteous and brave individuals (and groups) who oppose and engage them. The world that has seemingly gone insane will be evaluated, studied and hopefully we can begin to make some sense out of everything going on around us.
Communication is essential to knowledge and understanding, and while I am in no way putting myself and my fellow artists in the same category as the truly brave social justice warriors (the real ones), I do feel that artists will have ample opportunity (and even a grave responsibility) to help speak truth to power, expose injustice, and most importantly to communicate ideas in an attempt to understand, heal and enlighten.
Hopefully we can entertain a little bit, too... Happy New Year, everybody. Let's get to work.