Howl

Allen Ginsberg; an influential american poet, a leading figure of the beat generation and a passionate political ideologist.

"Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture."

Ginsberg is perhaps one of the most inlfuential literal artists of the 20th century, proceeding towards the limelight in a post-war america, most noticeably in the beat generation group. The beat generation were a collection of writers who came to prominence in the 1950's aswell being considered the cultural phenomenon they documented and inspired. They were renoundly known for free experimentation of drugs and sexuality, rejecting ideas such as materialism and repressed, unexpurgated forms of expression.
Allen Ginsberg's epic poem 'Howl' is the monumental example of artistic creativity having a large, longlasting impact on society. Written during a period when sodomy laws were active, tackling personal topics of homosexuality and free experimentation, often through the use of vulgar and obscene language techniques, soon came under scrutiny. Like other beat generation poems there was widespread publicity and court trials to remove its influence from the general public. Ultimately 'Howl' emerged the victor, personifying the value of free speech and artistic expression, liberalizing publishing for future generations.

As an artist, you can never expect or intend your work to have such a lasting impact on the world, yet you can always make a conscious effort to include social importance and relevance into your work. Its perfectly acceptable creating designs and images that look great on the surface, yet some interesting substance and reason behind the creation is what makes great art, amazing art.