The artists involved with the movement found some exciting ways to merge community-building, religion, topography and art, and it's well worth reading about. I noted some ties between the Nigerian artists and other 20th-century artistic phenomena, including the work of Jean Dubuffet , American folk art , and Kurt Schwitters' Merzbau , which reminds me of the Oshun shrine. Kind of like my posts to this page. For the first time in human history, children are born into homes where mass-mediated storytellers reach them on the average more than seven hours a day. Most waking hours, and often dreams, are filled with their stories.
Giant industries discharge their messages into the mainstream of common consciousness.
The historic nexus of church and state is replaced by television and state. These changes may appear to be a broadening and enrichment of local horizons, but they also mean a homogenization of outlooks and limitation of alternatives. For media professionals, the changes mean fewer opportunities and greater compulsions to present life in saleable packages. Creative artists, scientists, humanists can still explore and enlighten and occasionally even challenge, but, increasingly, their stories must fit marketing strategies and priorities. Media scholar George Gerbner founded the Cultural Environment Movement , which presses for decentralizing and democratizing media.