Art as a Social Tool

Why try to tackle difficult social problems with art? In a culture where art is often seen as fluff that fills out the entertainment section of the newspaper, it’s a valid question. At a time when our democracy is fairly healthy, we tend to lose sight of the radical potential art always holds for focusing social discomfort. This is why one of the first acts of a despotic government will always be to try to silence artists. Because art can transform a citizenry in powerful ways.

History is full of examples of art that has proved instrumental to social change. From Goya’s anti-war etchings of the early 1800’s to Rivera’s revolutionary murals of the 1930’s to the protest and freedom songs of the 1960’s, art encapsulates social feeling in ways that nothing else can.

Art also has the unique ability to bridge all barriers between communities, whether of language, culture, religion or even time. Art’s most powerful effect is not in its literal interpretation but in its ability to move people beneath the skin. Art affects us in ways that we can’t even clearly identify. Although we are moved to tears by great works of art, it is always hard to say why that is. It affects us beneath consciousness, which is where the source of much social difficulty lies, and therefore where the solutions can often be found.

As a sculptor I began working a few years ago making sculpture out of books published by the “World Church of the Creator”, whose hate-filled racism they insist is a religion called– of all things– “Creativity”! Almost immediately I began receiving hate mail by white supremacists. It really didn’t surprise me because after all, hate is what they’re best at. What concerns me isn’t so much the potential for harm from a flock that may not even be big enough to form a bluegrass band, as that their simplistic attitude is the same dangerous black-or-white reduction we hear daily from radical religious fundamentalists, rogue politicians, and terrified presidents: ‘there are only good guys (us) and bad guys (them) and if you’re not with us, ‘we will destroy you!’

The democratic spirit is imperiled any time there is a denial that all people are created equal. Our political opponent is not our enemy but our contender in a contest of ideas. As soon as we see our opponent as an enemy to be destroyed, we abandon our own fitness for democracy. Yes, violence needs to be defended against, but much as terrorists (those whose only means is violence) can never win by that means, still they can indeed make us lose-- by stooping to their level. There is no such thing as constructive violence.

Nor is there such a thing as destructive art. Much as the white supremacists feel attacked by my sculptures, they fail to understand that art cannot hurt anybody unless it is hurled overhand. Good art can never wound, just as a person cannot be forced to change their heart. Rather, art is light, whose sole power is to illuminate. The reason it sometimes feels horribly intrusive is that it is sometimes shined into those dark, unconscious places that we want most dearly not to see.

Art is powerful because it asks tough questions. Art is the opposite of violence. While violence cannot build, art cannot tear down. That’s not to say that we are not sometimes made to feel vastly uncomfortable by art. When art causes such discomfort we should grit our teeth and face what becomes illuminated.

The danger is not that we may be wounded by art, but that our hearts might be changed. That’s creativity!