Here's the link to the TEDTalk itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HjpZoYMw_E
Let me preface this post by saying that I specifically checked out some TEDTalks to try and find when I liked about social change, activism and art. I had about 20 + options to sift through, which I found inspiring and obviously indicative of the importance of this topic that we as a class are focusing on right now. However, I enjoyed the one I linked to above by Shannon Galpin titled "Art as activism" the most out of any. Everywhere you walk, you are surrounded by art and artists, often through public art, she says. Public art brings art outside the galleries and surrounds us with it, she says. Talk about art for the masses without consumerism. Benjamin says that art if often a commodity in culture and is contingent upon societal structure. However, he would enjoy the public art Galpin speaks of because it "art for the people." It is not meant for consumption though it is consumed. It is the polar opposite of art for the sake of capitalism and distraction. Galvin goes on to describe art as a "sudden little burst of beauty," which made me think of Kant. Kant believes that an experience of the beautiful takes place in a specific moment in time. It's rooted in time and place and isn't generalized but is specific and concrete I found her wording so similar to Kant's theory of aesthetics, a burst being a small, specific moment in time. Public art, she says, shouldn't be limited to urban areas and commissioned works. Work like Bansky's spray-painted art, which we have discussed in class, belongs in conflict zones like Palestine and other war-torn areas. It has the ability to reach the masses and change their perceptions, which is what I have been trying to say throughout theses posts. It gives a voice to the once voiceless. Overall, her theme is that we see stories of everyday people in a conflict or war zone that we may not pay attention to, or those that may not be shown in the media, through art (specifically public art that she speaks about). We see the death, war and genocide, but not necessarily the way someone like you or I would live in this devastation on a daily basis. Love, dreaming and inventing. She calls these stories with conflict as the background "real, valuable and inspiring." She says that photography is the most effective form of communicating these stories because you don't need an art degree to appreciate the work. It conveys emotion. It is a universal way to tell a story. I think Benjamin would agree with her (and myself) on photography's power, especially because it can be distributed to the masses, but may not agree that it accurately captures the human countenance. However, I think he is wrong; photography is often the only way we can genuinely see a human life or the way one suffers — especially those in the Middle East — and that type of raw footage is an indirect form of activism. It gets people riled up and interested in a cause or a people. It speaks volumes that a painting or a poem might not be able to. She calls herself an activist by creating a life-size public street exhibition for the Afghan people, who we often ignore. She gives them a place to create and share their story with the masses. This is not for profit (for her of the Afghans) or spectacle; it is simply a vehicle for which this in an area torn by conflict can tell their stories. I would say that her work creating life-size photographs that she transports to villages is activism; she is obviously passionate about telling the story of these people, uses her creativity to do so and sheds light upon issues that an entire population faces. I think her work is desperately needed in a country where two words immediately pop into our heads when we locate it on a map: War. Violence. Here are some examples of public art in Afghanistan:
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