Monika Fabijanska made some very interesting point during her visit to our seminar when she explained how art doesn’t only communicate a message or raise awareness, but that it can make change itself. Undoubtedly, art forms can be visual appealing and powerful enough to cause people to be proactive and rise up to answer a call to action, but some art forms themselves are active forms of change. Monika provided some examples of this even in our own city, like the wheat field as well as the floating apple orchard on a barge on the East River. This reminded me of an exhibition I visited in Brookfield Place in 2017 named Canstruction, where I walked through galleries of sculptures and artworks made out of cans. Apparently, Canstruction is an annual competition where engineers, architects, and any team of people construct a model out of hundreds or even thousands of cans. As seen in the pictures I’ve taken three years ago, some of my favorite models included structures of a boat, lighthouse, PacMan, all which are made from thousands of cans put together. This form of art reminds me of another form of art called pointillism, which is art made from thousands of tiny dots, which together make a complete, wholesome piece of art. The gallery is definitely visually appealing and attracting. I was in awe to see how powerful a collection of cans arranged in a certain arrangement can lead to such a satisfying sight. But more than just visually appealing, this form of art is also itself an action to help those who are poor as the cans are later donated to City Harvest.
