Strip away the crazy videos that FOX news posts on their YouTube channel, and search for the true causes behind the powerhouse that is Occupy Wall Street and one can find true organizations fighting for equality and the rights of the 99%. It is not just about the free handouts and jobs that people want, it is also about what has been promised and what has been actually done, or lack there of. One of the organizations that make up Occupy Wall Street is Picture The Homeless.
It was with great interest that I attended an event run by The Queens College Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding led by Macaulay Honors student, Dasi Fruchter, where the focus was on those without a voice and their need to be heard. From the organization Picture The Homeless, two members, both homeless, spoke to a room filled with Queens College students, explaining the issues of poverty and homelessness and why it is so difficult for people to find homes once put into the “system”. The amount of injustice that occurs without being reported or noticed because of the overlapping between government and personal interest is repulsive; if it was not for this one event I would still remain clueless. I can not stress enough the importance of all the information that was shared with us and how important it is for everyone to know, but Carlsky has already beaten me to the punch, as seen by his blog post below. Therefore I would like to focus on how organizations, like Picture The Homeless, and others at OWS, will affect art.
Art and its expression constantly vary from time to time, because of the many different influences that change over the course of history. In the 18th century Romanticism was born in response against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. Romanticism, much similar to the discontent against Wall Street today, formed against the corruption of the upper class and the injustices that occurred to the larger lower classes. I would not be surprised then that if soon enough we will see an outpouring of art because of the buildup of frustration at OWS. Although I am not expecting a new type of art form, I am expecting lots of modern art to be influenced by Occupy Wall Street.
I would not be surprised that if one day while walking through a museum I would come across a piece of modern art that would be a collage of all the picture sweeping the internet of everyday people covering their faces with letters of grievance claiming to be part of the 99%. If you want, you can see examples of these pictures at the Occupy Wall Street TUMBLR site.
As I have mentioned in a previous post, “New Art or Old Art…It’s All The Same”, as of now we do not see the outpouring of Occupy Wall Street, but rather a lifeline to the past. We see that people are relying on music and art of the past, primarily showcasing dissent against the war in Vietnam, to represent their own feelings on modern issues. Some people may view this as an issue, that our generation is not living up to the standards of previous protests and its effect on art. As for I, this seems to be a non-issue. Is it not the point of artists to produce art that outlives their own lives? Art is supposed to find meaning for the people that search for it. If this is the case, then any art should be applicable to todays protest as long as someone finds meaning to it.
As a question that is constantly brought up in class, “where do we draw the line?”, this line can be questioned even further with the outcries from Occupy Wall Street. One can claim that all the protests and different expressions of discontent can be classified as art itself. Art is art as long as someone says that it is art. Should we then claim that all of the forms of discontent should be considered some form of performance art?
With many different organizations gathering with so many different purposes in the same tight spaces for one goal, to be heard, it is hard to deny the greater effect Occupy Wall Street will have on our culture. While I hope that the people of Picture The Homeless attain their goal of ending the selfish amoral system of “helping” the poor, our ideology as a people will never be the same. With so much affecting so many nationally, it is without a question that people will be able to find new and creative (and artistic) ways of expressing their discontent with the way that the government plays with its people. History finds a way to repeats itself. Whether we have common grievances with our government similar to the time of the Romanticists, or we use art of the past to represent the discontent of the present, some form of expression will be adopted by the minds of today to fully express the emotions that can not be contained to sitting behind a TV watching some reported tell you what is wrong and right
Don’t forget to categorize your posts!
These are heartbreaking stories. They point out two distinct issues that must be addressed: 1) there are people who are already at great risk and their needs must be addressed and 2) if we are to prevent homelessness and unemployment from being a continuing problem there needs to be adequate health care and education for all.
It is no debate that art has historically been inspired by ensuing politics, wars, religious debates, or class structures of the artist’s given time period. The ceramic bowls of the ancient Middle East tell us about the prevalent Islamic views of the 10th century. The emergence of jazz in the early 20th century resulted mainly from the strict segregation of African Americans and Irish immigrants. Hannah Wilke’s S.O.S. Starification Object Series (1974 -1982) is an obvious stab at the sexism and objectification of women in the 70s.
Occupy Wall Street is no different. To be surprised at the proliferation of art that has resulted from a mere “protest” is to be oblivious to art’s invariable history. Although technology has certainly changed arts’ appearance, the new forms of expression it allows for is consistent with arts’ history. Taking a picture of oneself with a paper in hand may questionably be art, but its purpose is one and the same– to depict a message existing in society.
We often looked at art in class and said, “That’s not art, it’s not even good!” But there is another level to art appreciation. Skills aside, what message does it portray? What idea, value, historical event, or emotion does the piece posses? If we can look at a art with these glasses on we can find meaning in nearly everything.