Art is politics.
Whenever an artist attempts to display politics in his or her piece, it almost always shows the artist’s bias and opinion. Whether we think that politics has a place in art or not, it is the artist’s choice to include whatever point of view they choose.
The New York Foundation for the Arts conducted an online poll in June 2004 concerning people’s attitudes about politics in art. It was found that out of about three thousand people, 69% voted that political art is boring 4% thought “politics should be kept out of art,” and 27% appreciated “political art.”
If we think back to the role of art in society, other than as purely entertainment, many artists such as Michael Angelo and Diego Rivera used art to express their opinions about politics. Sometimes the artists who were funded by the wealthy, the church, and leaders were paid to make the politicians appear in a good light, using a point of view that may or may not be the same as the artist’s.
Now, many artists have an extreme freedom in what they say, do, or show because times have changed dramatically. In times past, the artists might have been censored if they showed the leaders in a negative light, but now, many artists go against the grain, without punishment.
Sometimes when an artist tries to create an unbiased piece of art such as a documentary with no opinion, it can become very boring. My high school Spanish teacher would always say that she “loves controversy” and she would always show us paintings by Hispanic artists and make us debate, in Spanish of course, whether or not we agree with the artist.
However, if there is one thing that I learned from The Arts in New York City it is that artists really don’t give a shit whether we agree with them or not. Art is their form of expression. Artists use their artwork as a way to express themselves, whether they are expressing a time in their lives (like Ralph Lemon), their religious point of views, their social views (like Andy Warhol), or their political views.
One of the most extreme forms of the artist as a political voice is in the move Fahrenheit 911 by Michael Moore. Moore incorporates his point of view into the entertaining documentary, but doesn’t state it blatantly in a rude or cunning manner. He uses sarcasm, humor, and other mechanisms to get his point across. At the end of the movie, whether we agree with him or whether we do not agree with him, does not change his point of view. I am sure that there are many people out there who completely disagree with Moore’s views, but he still owns the number one documentary, which is really impressive.
Moore, like all other artists, use their art pieces as a form of expression of themselves. We are attracted to certain artists because we disagree or agree with them and these strong feelings that the art evokes from within us makes us enjoy art.
All art requires courage. ~Anne Tucker
