Art can change the world
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.” Bertolt Brecht
Art is not just a means of documenting life, it can be utilised as a form of protest and as a powerful tool for change. Here are 5 examples of art and artists with political motives at their heart.
Mai 68
In the spring of 1968, students and staff at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris began protesting against the archaic and hierarchical university system and fighting for a fairer society. They produced countless visually striking hand printed posters to promote their campaign, which, following a night of rioting where hundreds of students and police officers were hospitalised, led to millions of workers across France going on strike in support of the students and to make their own demands for improved working conditions.
Bob and Roberta Smith
Bob and Roberta Smith is the pseudonym of artist Patrick Brill, who advocates for the importance of art education- he believes ‘all schools should be art schools.’ A key work of his is Letter to Michael Gove (2011), a response to the (then) Education Secretary Gove’s intention to reduce art and design in the school curriculum. In 2015, Bob and Roberta Smith stood as an independent candidate against Gove who was the Conservative Party candidate for the constituency. He lost to Gove who was re-elected by a significant majority.
Nathan Coley
Holiday-goers and daytrippers returning from Dieppe to Newhaven in East Sussex by ferry will be confronted by a newly erected 5 metre high sculpture by artist Nathan Coley depicting the phrase ‘You imagine what you desire,’ in lights, a reaction to the treatment of refugees by the UK government. Coincidentally, the artwork was first illuminated on the day Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, revealed plans to send asylum seekers entering Britain to Rwanda.
Mark Wallinger
Peace campaigner Brian Haw’s protest camp outside Westminster was forcibly removed by police in 2006, following the passing of an act that prohibits unauthorised demonstrations within 1 kilometre of Parliament Square. In response, artist Mark Wallinger worked closely with Haw to faithfully replicate his camp in intricate detail at Tate Britain in 2007, calling it ‘State Britain.’ The artist realised the edge of the enforced exclusion zone runs through the centre of the gallery and marked this out in tape on the floor.
Ai WeiWei
In 2010, Ai WeiWei filled the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern with 100 million seemingly identical sunflower seed husks that are in fact tiny porcelain artworks handcrafted by 1600 artisans, many of whom were unemployed at the time, in the town of Jingdezhen, China. The work comments on mass production versus individualism, the lack of autonomy for factory workers, their vulnerable position in society, and what ‘made in China’ really means.
Lino printing is a perfect format for producing your own protest art posters like those produced during Mai 68, pick up a DIY kit in our shop.
