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Italian writer Allesandro Baricco, author of the book The Barbarians (2010) among others, told in the episode Culture Barbarians of VPRO Tegenlicht on October 9. how art expressions actually changed very little in the period from 1850 to 2000 - the era of romantic art. Now, however, according to Baricco, we are at the beginning of a great change, caused by the advent of the Internet. In his book The Barbarians, he describes how the first cultural expressions of a new era are often rejected and seen as uncivilized, barbaric. You saw this in the first half of the 19th century and we see it around us now. The writer also sees that it is becoming more and more acceptable to stay on the surface, rather than "digging in" to the depths, which can be seen as the basis of thinking in columns.

The two presidential candidates Trump and Clinton - each in their own way - seem to consider art and culture relatively important, it can be concluded from inventories of both candidates available on the website of Americans for the Arts Action Fund. Hopefully they can appreciate the artistic expressions that come from their public existence.

An example of such artistic expression is the clip from Lucky TV - in which the creator has Clinton and Trump sing a duet from the film Dirty Dancing - which went global. More fundamental perhaps is the work of the American artist duo t.Rutt - David Gleeson and Mary Mihelic - who several times built pieces of the Mexican wall envisioned by Trump in California, using materials they found in the border area. They sent the bill for the wall to the Mexican government. Clinton also inspires artists, for example portrait painter Sarah Sole, or the Australian artist Lushsux who made a painted on a wall in Melbourne Clinton, in bikini containing 100-dollar bills, had to paint over, and the bikini thereupon turned into a black burka.

The outcome of the U.S. presidential election will not be influenced by these artistic expressions, but they will have made people think here and there, give comfort and a different view. They are pinpricks on the surface and, in that sense, fit into the contemporary way of giving meaning. Surfing on the surface of everything that acquires meaning in this world, art makes us pause to consider the meaning of the things we encounter on this surface that can have an enormous impact on our lives. The results of the U.S. presidential election, for example.