Introduction
Art and activism are used to communicate messages to a large audience. If used together, these two ways of communication form one called artivism. It uses creative expression to cultivate awareness and social change in various ways, including visual art, writing, poetry, music, and performance. Focusing on an example of artivism, this paper will analyze its social and political relevance. It is necessary to determine whether artivism’s social and political applicability is relevant.
Art and Activism
Art is a form of expression of human creativity and skills. It is intended to be appreciated for its beauty or emotional power. The most general and traditional art forms include paintings, sculptures, performances, and music. Art has many different purposes that vary from one artist to another. It is not to say that the purpose of art is vague per se; it is to establish that art can be created for different reasons. Any piece of art always contains a surplus of meaning: something one cannot quite describe or put the finger on, but it moves the audience nonetheless (Duncombe, 2016). Its goal is to stimulate a feeling, move the audience emotionally, or alter their perception of day-to-day activities or environment.
With all its various purposes, art may also have a personal function. It is expressed in the need to voice basic human instinct for harmony and balance. Art serves as an outlet for human emotions and can be a therapy for the artist. It also provides a way to experience one’s self in relation to the universe. Usually, this need to express oneself comes without ulterior motives, and it is natural as one appreciates art or music.
As well as that, art can also serve as a social outlet. Essentially, art is a form of communication. Reflecting on ancient times, the very first type of art known to humankind, cave paintings, was used to communicate with one another and to tell stories. Since then, art forms have evolved from simple communication to entertainment purposes. However, the main idea, communication, remains. Art often explores broad ideas and themes that usually reflect the time period in which it was created, whether it is a statement to support something or a way to express a negative reaction toward something. It can express political, religious, and social ideas and deeply personal thoughts.
Artivism
Art and social change are complex phenomena that are not always associated with one another. While there may be a consensus that art moves the audience and, by extension, society, how and why it does so is still an open debate (Duncombe, 2016). It is also difficult to determine when exactly a social change has happened and whether a specific piece of art caused it. Activism, on the other hand, refers to taking action (more often a drastic measure) to effect political or social change. It is a straight cause of the change happening, whereas art is generally an indirect one (Duncombe, 2016). Activism, per general rule, has a clear target, whether it is to mobilize the population or create an institution.
On the other hand, art is not created with a clear target in mind. It is often difficult to interpret what art is for or against. Its value usually lies in demonstrating new perspectives, and its impact is hard to measure (Duncombe, 2016). More often than not, the message hidden within the art is for an audience to interpret, and thus such interpretations can be very subjective. It is one more difference between art and activism. The message behind an art piece is subjective to understanding, whereas activism has a very clear message.
At first glance, it can be deduced that art and activism are quite opposites. Activism impacts the material world, and art affects the emotional aspects of one’s personality. The scope of the first one is social, while the latter is individual (Duncombe, 2016), making them complementary rather than the opposite. As one contributes to another, from a smaller range to a bigger one. Society is composed of individuals, and change does not simply happen. It occurs because those said individuals make a change. As such, the individuals and society are intertwined, meaning one can easily impact the other.
Keeping the abovementioned idea in mind, it can be stated that art can be interconnected with activism. This connection creates a new form of activism, called artistic activism, or simply artivism. Artivism uses creative expression to cultivate awareness and social change in various ways, including visual art, writing, poetry, music, and performance. Artistic Artivism is a practice aimed at generating Æffect: emotionally resonant experiences that lead to measurable shifts in power.
Political and Social Aspects of Artivism
Arts have the power to move beyond simple representation and critique into something that enables communities to effect change. As a catalyst for social and political change, art is unique in its capacity to provide tools and a necessary platform to bring communities together. The relationship between arts and politics is complex. Moreover, art can contribute to political disclosure by supporting or discharging selected political and sociological views.
Following the concept of artivism, it can be stated that it is the highest level of art involvement in social and political aspects of society. Furthermore, artivism does not focus only on visual art, music, or performance. It also involves the case of public artivism, the art practices that happen in public areas and/or consist of the public, or onlookers, in its performance. Public art can be permanent or temporary, depending solely on the artist’s idea and vision. Public artivism has come into fashion since the financial crisis of 2007 in order to voice the bottom-up approach that had an anti-globalist nature (Zebracki, 2020). Over time, it has progressed into concerns with identity politics and forms of social and systematic oppression.
The main example of political and social-related artivism is infamous artist Banksy, whose identity is still a mystery and who raises tough political questions in his works. The artist defines graffiti as the revenge of the lower class or guerrilla, allowing an individual to wrestle power, territory, and glory in front of a larger and better-equipped enemy (Aladro-Vico et al., 2018). Banksy’s works have addressed various political and social issues, including anti-war, anti-consumerism, and anti-fascism. Modern public artivism, as well as artivism in general, is aimed at promoting inclusivity, equality, and justice. Moreover, artivism is also voicing environmental and political problems. Artivism targets exploring new artistic forms of political expression under difficult and/or oppressive conditions.
Consequently, it seeks to understand how artists can bring about social and political changes. Contemporary means of expression of artistic views now involve festivals, parades, videos, comic books, cartoons, street art, and street performance. They are also well suited for an age of cell phone cameras and social networks. The traditional art forms are less involved in contemporary artivism; however, they are still present.
Example of Social Artivism
Artivists generate events because they break the structure of conventional communication, erupting into the social space to attract attention and inoculate thought in their recipients. They do it through emotionalization and invasion of spaces or adapting non-artistic means and times to artistic expression. One of such ways of adapting non-artistic ways to creative expression is the “free hugs” idea. The movement involves the performer standing in a public area and offering free hugs to the passing audience.
“Free hugs” can be linked to both art and activism ideologies. Essentially, the artist who is giving out hugs is a performer, and the act itself has a social agenda to it. For example, Xanameira (October 18, 2018) posted a video called “Free Hug / Calins Gratuits: We shouldn’t need to dress up to get closer!” The video shows an artist dressed as a teddy bear standing in the middle of a busy street with their hands spread out wide, inviting people for a hug. It is extremely obvious how easy it is for passersby to come to a giant teddy bear and hug him. The motion sequence is upbeat and sentimental; however, the video shows how the person in a bear costume takes the top part of the costume off, revealing a man with a disability. Then there is a text on the screen saying, “do we need to disguise ourselves to get closer?” (Xanameira, 2011, 1:22). The main message behind this piece of art is not to neglect anyone with a disability and promote social acceptance.
This street performance is a prime example of the social relevance of art. It raises difficult social questions and challenges the audience to take necessary action. These questions refer to the idea behind artivism, the art that makes the audience take action. This video encourages the viewer to become kinder and take a step towards equality when it comes to disability. Artivism connects the individual in the video to the larger audience, away from the passive ways of global communication, instead opting for immediate social intervention, participation, and active awakening (Aladro-Vico et al., 2018). This specific type of performing art from the video generated a language through which an artist, an individual, could express himself. Moreover, the audience, the by-passers who hugged the teddy bear, became emitters, not just recipients of a message. The craftsmanship of artivist interventions shows the audience how to proceed to participate in the art, thus evidently moving away from the traditional art forms.
Social Questions of the Artivism Example
Several social topics were touched on and covered in the abovementioned video. They include the social questions and implications of disability, the never-ending question of equality, the prominent notion of acceptance, and the long-lasting idea of kindness in society. The first and foremost important topic to examine is the question of disability. As evident from the video, the man wearing a teddy bear costume hides from society to become closer to it and avoid cruel judgment. The message behind this act is loud and clear; disability should be treated with respect and not be banned from society. People are people at the end of the day, and everyone requires closeness. In terms of social implication, it is a very prominent question; this video and the act in the video show how society can be kind or cruel to those who are vulnerable and deserve kindness in the first place. Thus, the video encourages the audience to open their eyes and make changes by being somewhat more accepting.
It leads to the second problem in the video, the question of equality. The Teddy bear costume hides the person because he is different from society, and it is difficult for him to fit in. Therefore, he is either excluded from the said society or has to pretend to be someone else. Equality is the idea that every individual within the community is equal despite their differences, such as race, age, gender, disabilities, education, and so on. The attempt to fit is biologically induced into humans, and the need for companionship always prevails. Therefore, as we can see from this video example, the individual can effectively lose himself in a desperate attempt to fit in. Yet again, this action inspires the audience to make changes and make society equal, which is another social cue that artivism is voicing.
The third question that occurs in this video is the idea of social acceptance. As it has already been stated above, society can be cruel to individuals. However, this artwork encourages the individuals to take action towards the opposite, towards unconditional acceptance. It breaks apart pragmatic aspects of everyday life and invites individuals to participate in the change required in their environment. It encourages liberation that accompanies dynamic initiatives of social actions. Individuals are encouraged to make a change and make society a more welcoming place. Thus, if that same question was faced only by one individual, they were most likely to have failed. However, with the help of artivism, this idea and drive for change are raised by society, thus making it much more possible for the change to occur finally.
Lastly, the final social idea asked in the video is the idea of kindness. Perhaps the concept of kindness is the main drive behind the “free hugs” movement. To come up to a stranger and just hug them is a terrifying notion. However, when said individual is already standing there with their little sign, it is encouraging and not as scary. An act of kindness can boost feelings of confidence, being in control, happiness, and optimism. This act of artivism contributes to a more positive society. Overall, all the questions raised by the video, such as disability, equality, acceptance, and kindness, are leading to changes in society.
Moreover, it is important to note that this artivism example contains two art demonstration methods. First is the act in the video, the actual individual performing in the middle of a busy street. This is an example of public artivism, although this instance is not that simple. The video itself is also a means of modern artivism. The audience that is encouraged to make changes is not only that one that took part in the video but also the one that watches the video on YouTube. The viewer also experiences the same array of emotions that the by-passers are experiencing. The viewer is also stimulated to make changes regarding the questions in the video. Therefore, it can be settled that a video picturing the act of artivism can encourage the same emotions as participating in the act would.
Conclusion
Art is one of the first forms of communication that has been discovered. It has progressed from a simple way of communication to a form of entertainment. Art is intended to be appreciated for its beauty or emotional power. Moreover, art can also express political, religious, and social ideas and deeply personal thoughts. Art is not created with a clear target in mind. It is often difficult to interpret what art is created for or against. As a result, it is difficult to determine the exact effect that the art might have on the audience.
Activism, on the other hand, occurs with a specific target in mind. It is a straight cause of the change happening, whereas art is generally an indirect one. At first glance, it can be assumed that art and activism are quite opposites. Activism has an impact on the material world, and art affects the emotional aspects of one’s personality. As such, activism impacts society or community on a larger scale, whereas art affects an individual personally. Therefore, society comprises individuals, and change does not simply happen. It occurs because those said individuals make a change. This connection creates a new form of activism, called artistic activism, or simply artivism. It uses creative expression to cultivate awareness and social change in various ways, including visual art, writing, poetry, music, and performance.
Artivism gradually progressed into concerns about identity politics and forms of social and systematic oppression. Modern public artivism is aimed at promoting inclusivity, equality, and justice. Moreover, artivism is also voicing environmental and political problems. Artivism targets exploring new artistic forms of political expression under difficult conditions. Consequently, it seeks to understand how artists can bring about social and political changes. Through adapting non-artistic means, modern artists tend to raise important social and political queries.
One of such ways of adapting non-artistic means to artistic expression is the “free hugs” idea. Several social topics were touched on and covered in the abovementioned video. They include the social questions and implications of disability, the never-ending question of equality, the prominent notion of acceptance, and the long-lasting idea of kindness in society. The audience that is encouraged to make changes is not only that one that took part in the video but also the one that watches the video on YouTube. The viewer also experiences the same array of emotions that the onlookers are experiencing. The viewer is also stimulated to make changes regarding the questions in the video. Therefore, it can be settled that a video picturing the act of artivism can encourage the same emotions as participating in the act would. Artivism is connected to the social and political aspects and is heavily influenced by it. Of course, it is up to artists to decide whether to include social or political aspects in their art. However, it is important to note that with such an agenda, artivism can encourage the community to perform necessary changes. With that in mind, it can be stated that artivism can make the modern world a better place.
References
Aladro-Vico, E., Jivkova-Semova, D., & Bailey, O. (2018). Artivism: A new educative language for transformative social action. Comunicar: Media Education Research Journal, 57(26).
Duncombe, S. (2016). Does it work? The Æffect of activist art. Social research, 83(1).
Zebracki, M. (2020). Public artivism: queering geographies of migration and social inclusivity. Citizenship Studies, 24(2), 131-153.
Xanameira (2011).Free Hug / Collins Gratuits: We shouldn’t need to dress up to get closer! YouTube.