According to a New York Times article, Antoni Muntadas has a new multimedia installation in the Bronx Museum of the Arts which addresses societal isolation. This exhibit features audio and visual components to convey various aspects of social control tactics. For instance, one piece boasts multiple stills and moving images of passionate fans at a soccer game, highlighting railings, fences, individual seats, et cetera. I doubt that the article’s description does the work justice, though.
A more plausible aspect of the article is the end, where the author refers back to his opening, framing paragraph regarding what entities individuals are most frightened by and refracts it back onto the artist. After offering a brief explanation as to why Muntadas’s work is lacking, the author suggests that Muntadas has placed limitations on his creative capacities that are similar to the confining societal factors of which he raises awareness. The author describes, “It is as if he had erected a fence around his own creative intellect to keep out unruly impulses of imagination and emotion. What, I wonder, is he afraid of?”
Artists who seek to express disturbing societal injustices face a problem that other artists can shrug off. To some degree, these artists need to be mindful of how their audiences will respond to their art. In our English 110H class this semester, we had to write a persuasive essay to either a hostile, friendly, or indifferent audience; and, for each group, the “successful” approach varies. The same applies to “art with a cause.” When an artist (whatever his medium may be) realizes this, it certainly affects the final outcome of the piece. If it is supposed to urge an audience to action regarding the societal ill, then it must be created with a fairly high concern of the audience itself. On the other hand, however, this may prove detrimental to visual artists who are thinkers because there are not a few concrete manners in which art can move an audience. Simple images of protesters at Occupy Wall Street can be as effective as an abstract drawing about the one percent. Because art is such an innovative craft, artists seek new ways in which to express themselves effectively. When a response is anticipated (or action called for), an artist’s options may become limited in an attempt to get the best desired reaction.
Was this Muntadas’s dilemma? I do not know. But it certainly addresses the unique roadblock faced by artists seeking societal change and response to their creations.
