Banksy’s Love Is in the Air
Banksy's Love Is in the Air is a piece that was made in response to a wall being made to separate Palestinians from Jewish Israelis. Though this piece was made in 2003, the topic could not be more relevant today with what is happening in Palestine in 2024. The topic not just one that needs reflection, it is one that is ongoing. Artistically, I really appreciate the subversion of expectations by having someone throwing flowers instead of a molotov. By advocating for ideas of peace by creating this subversion, the topic is approached in a way that both acknowledges the hostile nature of what is taking place while also asking for change away from hatred and violence.
Why Artistic Activism?
"From Jesus’s use of parables to engage his audience, to dramatizing “this is what democracy looks like” in public squares around the world in 2011, working artfully makes activism effective. Many activists know this intuitively, but by naming it “artistic activism” we take what would be a folk art and turn it into a defined practice — giving it the attention and study it demands."
Though this point is somewhat straightforward, I do believe it is one that deserves to be highlighted. It is very easy to forget that practicing art is one of the oldest activities in human history, similar to how song and dance have both been present for an innumerable number of years. As such, art offers many effective ways to contribute to activism just as much as it has an incredible number of examples from the past and present. People creating activist art have been doing so all across the world for centuries, if not millennia.
"Caring about the world is hard work... Artistic activism is a way to connect with the artist inside of every activist and the activist within every artist, redrawing connections so that artistic activism generates fun and pleasure rather than sacrifice and guilt and, in the process, reintegrating and re-energizing our lives."
This is a topic that has been talked about in class. There are ways to be an activist that does not necessarily require marching and protesting for those who are not comfortable doing so. Being an activist through art allows for a relaying of activist messages and causes that could be more fun and satisfying for those creating their pieces. The other side of this is the idea that artists may find more satisfaction in changing their subject matters towards that of activism.
An Introduction to Activist Art
"Tania Bruguera’s work Tatlin’s Whisper, 2008, is a performance piece that consists of two uniformed policemen sitting on a horse patrolling the exhibition space of a museum. With the help of these horses, they use different crowd control techniques that they learned at the police academy such as making people move in certain directions or separating people into groups. The Cuban artist said that it was important to her that the audience was unaware of the fact that the policemen’s actions were part of the work of art. Bruguera’s work discusses themes such as political authority, control, and power... Bruguera’s work produces a monument through the memory of the audience."
This work is really interesting to me for the fact that it relies on the audience not realizing that the "policemen's actions were part of the work." There are few better ways to understand the implications of control and power than to experience an exercising of power, and this piece demonstrates these points in a safe and interesting manner. This performance piece is incredible in its execution, being remembered in conjunction with the topics it addresses.
"Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Migration Series’ is inspired by the movement of African Americans from the South to the North, Midwest, and West during the 20th century, which is also called the Great Migration. The artist’s parents were migrants themselves and Lawrence did extensive research on the topic. The series consists of sixty panels and depicts various aspects of the historical exodus. It shows a part of history that has often been ignored. Lawrence has argued that the story of Black people in America is a vital part of American heritage that should be brought out into the light."
It is an unfortunate reality that the history of Black People in America is often ignored despite its importance. There have been countless times in history courses, especially before college, where I am familiar with the material being taught, yet I always learn something new when covering Black history. The topic does not get enough attention, carrying implications on how people treat the past as well as how we will move in the future. There are many aspects of history that need more coverage, and this is one of them; Jacob Lawrence's piece brings attention to this in a way that both shows the audience something on the topic, and encourages to do more research on their own.
The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art Since World War II
"The harrowing portrait of loss, which, like many of the artist’s works, was labeled “Untitled,” occupied the liminal, often uncomfortable space between art and advertising. Made a few years before the peak of the epidemic in the United States, it brought the domestic devastation of AIDS into the public realm, where, at the time, such realities were largely met with silence and denial."
The implications of Felix Gonzalez-Torres' “Untitled" are largely felt by how little context the audience is given in the billboard. There is an immense feeling of loss in the black and white image, with a foreboding feeling attached to it. Made at a time when AIDs was not reacted towards with the same level of acceptance and acknowledgement that we use today, "Untitled" effectively evokes a message of loss as a result of the AIDs epidemic in a way that cannot be ignored, yet does so through its implications rather than a direct message.
"His sewn-up mouth became a recurring image in his art and activism, a gesture that took the slogan “Silence = Death,” which had been adopted as a rallying cry by AIDS activists and serves as the picture’s subtitle, to its logical, literal extreme... 'I think what I really fear about death is the silencing of my voice,” he once said. “I feel this incredible pressure to leave something of myself behind.'"
There are multiple aspects of Wojnarowicz's piece that I found interesting. The first is the idea behind silence being equated to death. As I stated in my previous response, AIDs was not reacted towards with the same level of acceptance and acknowledgement that we use today. Not only was a diagnosis often met with hopelessness, many people, including those in power, refused to publicly respond to the epidemic. On a more personal side, Wojnarowicz's statement of wanting to leave something behind is something that can be related to, both inside and outside of the context of when the piece was made. Those who have faced death can relate to the idea of wanting to leave something behind.
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