The Role of Activist Art

What is the role of activist art in society?

Activist art started in full effect post the Vietnam war with the rise of AIDS in America. The AIDS epidemic hit the art world hard and activist art came into resurgence as a mark against Vietnam and civil unrest. Activist art feared over-complication leading to muddying of the waters or re-stereotyping the group seeking representation. The art piece named “Detournement” by Krzgsztof Wodiczko took symbols of political power and projected onto them the critique of the power itself. Activist art is based on the propaganda effect not form with aesthetic appeal. Act-up of AIDS activism was the first fight against ‘hate’ equating passivisity to murder. Act-up also went to reappropriate words and meanings about gay life and abortion. Activist art put a peaceful use of power to art about the distribution of power in politics usually in a shocking, ironic, and informative manner. I believe activist art to be very powerful in bringing about awareness to the public in a creative and peaceful manner. The art speaks for itself and gets the viewer to think about subjects they might have not quite understood before. Activist art is so incredibly powerful that it helped bring the world closer to equality by informing the public of their lack of awareness of certain subjects. It was almost always controversial and stirred about a variety of responses both positive and negative. Regardless of the response, it was always effective in making people aware of ironies, subtleties, or injustices that were present in our society and political affairs. I am very proud of the activist artists for bravely putting forth these art pieces to get people to wake up to their ignorance. I think it’s one of the most powerful and important categories of art that has power in itself to speak to all. Even when controversial or upsetting, it succeeds in putting light to areas that have been misunderstood or misrepresented.

In the photo below is an image of Untitled by Feliz Gonzalez-Torres representing the body of Felix's gay partner who passed away due to AIDS. There are about a million pieces of candy that make up as a whole the body of his partner about in weight. It symbolizes the complacency of the public towards the AIDS movement. Viewers were encouaged to go pick out a piece of candy from the pile as symbolism of the group complacency people had towards AIDS and how detrimental it was to the gay community. The colors red, blue, and white represent the American flag. This piece is successful in showing that even though on the exterior something may seem fine, underneath it all there is terror, death, and disease. This piece is an activist statement showing that people really have no idea what their true imapact is. It is successful in stirring about discomfort by getting the viewers to engage with this irony.