"Art requires time"

Hello,

Art as Activism. As the quote says… “we shouldn’t do art for art’s sake.” One of the things that stuck out to me was the part about how your class background reflects on the kind of art a person makes & the message they are trying to form. I myself would admit that I’m not specialized in any form of art, or maybe it’s untapped within me & all I need is a little push… The workshop also opened my eyes to the fact that the forces in power also use art to oppress us and maintain the system. That alone, made me think about all the images, visuals we see in the media are forms of art, but these artists are paid. Their work is commoditized. Someone made billions for drawing out that Nike logo, someone made billions for writing up these popular shows on t.v., and someone made billions putting out ego driven, misogynistic, pointless music. Those people in power know how to appeal at us in many different forms using art.

With that in mind, if they’re using art to prevail against us, why don’t we use it back at them? Kultural Work is when art is used to transform the system. I’m a witness to the various kinds of kultural work that has been applied to the movement, the community, & ourselves. When I learned that art has a form and a function, it broke down to the process into creating a work of art. A written piece needs a function and it could be informative and tell a story. A painting can also have the same effect and share emotions through color, contrast. One thing that still is on my mind is that that class background really is a factor in who is putting out art.

Art requires time.

Time is scarce resource that many do not have. To have time is privilege. To those that are creating art have time and it says a lot with what they do with their time. A person that paints by the beach on a nice sunny day will paint the landscape, because he/she has the time and for their own self escape. It makes sense when you connect it back to power and privilege. Art is just another tool we can use against the system and form a culture of resistance. I’ve been lucky enough to see this first hand at the high school level. I have friends that write, paint, make video, and I’ve always admired them from afar since I myself haven’t really showed what I can do.

Here's a piece by Mike Dream.

“Ian who be screamin’”