An interview with Darrell Arnold, conducted and recorded by Rafael Aragon

The Humanities Edge Project

What is art? Is all art political? How can art serve as a tool for social criticism and a motor for social change? In 2019/2020 I was the recipient of a Mellon Foundation Grant to explore art activism. It was meant in part to foster collaboration between Miami Dade College and Florida International University. At MDC we had a series of talks and interviews with local artists, curators, art practitioners, to discuss philosophical questions. Through these talks hundreds of MDC students came to better understand the importance of art as a critical tool for social change. The interns of the grant also prepared for the events, filmed and photographed them and did presentations to introduce the philosophical topics and the artists. They also coordinated with their FIU student colleagues in numerous meetings to discuss these issues. Special thanks for their participation goes out local artists Xavier Cortada, William Cordova, Maria Vickles, Dale Andree, Michelle Grant Murray, and my colleagues at MDC North campus Victor Gomez and Alena Frisquet. The video above (from Playard Studios) provides an overview of the project. The video below was recorded and produced by Huguett, one of the MDC student interns. Other interns of the project included LaSherry Codner, Jamal Mills, Liza Guillen, and Alexa Hernandez.   

Andrew Feenberg is one of the world’s leading philosophers of technology. After studying with Herbert Marcuse, he went on to develop the major position in philosophy of technology to build on Marcuse’s work. His “critical constructivism” builds on the foundations of the Frankfurt School, but also Marx, Lukacs, and Heidegger. Yet it has gone on to incorporate work of Science and Technology Studies, philosophical constructivism and Actor Network Theory. In this online event, organized by Creston Davis at the Global Center for Advanced Studies (GCAS), I interview Dr. Feenberg about philosophy and technology in the 21st century. In 2017 I edited a volume on Dr. Feenberg’s work on critical theory, which is described under the “Books” link above.

Since July 3, 2020, I have been doing a weekly podcast on politics and current events with Ralph Ventura, a Miami-based lawyer. In “The Raven Speaks” we take up a main news event of the week or a background issue of importance for current events and do about a 30 minute deep dive. As we turn toward what we expect to be a calmer news cycle under the Biden administration, we will take up some more philosophical and cultural topics, in part highlighting areas where ethics meets public policy.

I am also a songwriter and musician and have done five studio CDs. While finishing my doctorate in Germany I played regularly in Germany in Holland and won a prize in 2002 with my band for the best CD production of the year from the German Pop and Rock Music Association. In non-covid times I now play lead guitar for my wife one Thursday a night a month at the Luna Star Cafe in North Miami, FL. I’ve recently developed a set of 1920s to 1940s acoustic blues music, and also play that along with some of my own songs together with the fine guitarist who has also created this website, Rose Gargiulo, from Imagine Media Concepts. On occasion I have also been known to bang out a set of music on a mandolin and sing background in a local Scottish and Irish music group, Flash Company.

Photo by Mark Diamond