Art Of Activism - David Gonzalez

 Martha Rosler Cleaning the Drapes 

 

 This is a warzone behind what seems to be behind a curtain used in a suburban home. The reason this stuck me is because the artist acknowledged how big the Vietnam war had gotten, and it was not just thousands of miles away, its outside affect the generations present at the time. This is an activist artwork because it ties the destruction and violence abroad the home of America by televising it the first time on tv. "War was brought home." 

WHY ARTISTIC ACTIVISM? | Center for Artistic Activism 

 

"Artistic Activism is a practice aimed at generating Æffect: emotionally resonant experiences that lead to measurable shifts in power."

This struck me as the whole purpose of a being an activist is to rally an idea and this sums up how it can be done.

"Creating and sustaining lasting change demands a change in values, beliefs and patterns of behavior, that is: cultural change."

For things to change ideas have to be made for actions to take place, and then actions become behavioral changes, then it becomes cultural change. For art, it is an idea that can be taken either lightly or drastically.

An Introduction to Activist Art | The Collector | by Stefanie Graf  

"activist art often creates a dialogue and forces people to think about these problems."

 Thinking about problem that might not be visible has always been a problem, until someone points it out then people start thinking. To me this is a good way to wake people up on such topics.

With the apparent message calling for flowers instead of violence, the work has often been interpreted as a call for peace.

Even as activist we don't want to promote violence, as Banksy tries to do here. We want political change, but not so it destroys people's lives. It shows activists have morals they should not cross and if they are crossed, we want it to stop.

The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art Since World War II 

The New York Times Style Magazine 

"His scratchy drawings were relentlessly ferocious and often macabre, sometimes depicting decapitation and amputation, tools of religious dictatorships."

Sometimes, when things are really bad, activist artists really need to spell out and uncensored drawings to show how wrong and how dire a situation is.

His sewn-up mouth became a recurring image in his art and activism, a gesture that took the slogan “Silence = Death,”

No matter how morally, ethically, or even logically right an idea is, artists are often silenced to not show their opinion or standpoint to rally an idea of change, this is the risk to being an activist.