Art as Activism: Why We Need More Art in More Communities
Art brings us together
Art causes us to stop and look. It takes us out of our normal routine—makes us linger, talk, and connect with fellow viewers; it offers us a place to share our thoughts and emotions. Oftentimes it provides us a moment to reflect and take a breath, offering us a brief respite from the chaotic bustling of modern life. Art widens our view, taking us away from the mundane and putting us into a new space, one in which we encounter ourselves in relation to the art. Art can help us to see our own unique place in the world.
Every day we are inundated by seemingly endless streams of information and misinformation regarding the changes taking place in our world today. We are becoming aware of how the media divides us and how social media polarizes us. I recently came across the work of artist, and professor of art, Olafur Elliason. In his article entitled Why Art Has the Power to Change the World, Elliason writes “I am convinced that by bringing us together to share and discuss, a work of art can make us more tolerant of difference and of one another. The encounter with art — and with others over art — can help us identify with one another, expand our notions of we, and show us that individual engagement in the world has actual consequences.”
Art as Activism
It can be hard to feel empowered when we see news headlines about how a small group of the world’s wealthiest have the greatest control over our shared fate. However, when we engage with art we can reconnect with hope, with our own passion, and we can begin to feel that if enough of us work together, we truly can effect positive change.
The constant bombardment of news and statistics regarding every aspect of our world today can lead us to feel overwhelmed and even paralyzed under the weight of it all. Elliason suggests that it is the responsibility of art and artists to “help people not only get to know and understand something with their minds but also to feel it emotionally and physically. By doing this, art can mitigate the numbing effect created by the glut of information we are faced with today, and motivate people to turn thinking into doing.”
This numbing effect is truly worrying. How many times have I scrolled through jaw dropping news headlines, refusing to click on a single one? More often than I care to admit. Instead I disassociate, the headlines washing over me, as I push forward trying to live a purposeful life in an age where daily . We are living through a critical moment. A world-wide cultural shift is needed if we are to preserve the planet and our place in it and I believe that art is a necessary part of any cultural shift—because after all—art is culture.
Why We Need Art
I have seen the way art draws people in. I have seen how art serves as a landmark—a way for people to navigate their neighborhoods. A special bonding and sense of pride and ownership develops among communities over their works of art. In an interview with Jamie Bennet from ArtPlace America about creative placemaking, she says “Why we ultimately need art is because the arts do something that nothing else does, which is drive more stable communities and build community attachment and social cohesion and civic engagement. Our research shows that people who participate in the arts are more likely to participate in activities beyond the arts, like volunteering, at higher rates.”
Our mission at Endangered Concepts is to bring more art into more communities with the purpose of raising awareness for some of the most pressing issues of our time such as habitat preservation and the problem of plastic pollution.
