I think protest art is a very effective form of civil disobedience because images have power. Art is striking. When I walk down the street, I may not read signs and bulletins, but I definitely look at graffiti. When I’m online scrolling through facebook, I might not stop to read a long article, however persuasive the title, but if I see a passionate, powerful image, it catches my eye and I study it. I think art entices people, and when you draw people in, it’s easier to sway them.
In the article, “CRAFTIVISM: THE DO-IT-YOURSELF PRACTICE OF PROTEST DESIGN,” Grindon says, “Many of the rights and freedoms we take for granted were won by disobedience. Oscar Wilde called it man’s original virtue.” A lot of artists are taking up this “virtue” by protesting though their art, which I find very fascinating. I’ve seen a lot about protest art outside of the two articles we read. For example, I found an artist who commented on the beauty industry’s effects on women by photographing nude women with marks from tight undergarments and clothing, razor burns, etc. It’s hard to explain the power of the statement by simply describing it. The images hold all the power.
I was very shocked and impressed after reading “The Guerrilla Girls Are Still Relevant After All These Years.” The Guerilla Girls are evidently extremely effective, using bold, captivating, and concise facts and images to communicate astonishing truths. The article says, “female artists had solo shows at major museums, and powerful women worked as gallerists, curators, journalists, and tastemakers. But there’s something about seeing the black-and-white numbers presented by the Guerrilla Girls, usually in the form of accessible posters, that’s eye opening and enraging.” I think most people know that there is income and job inequality between the sexes, but a lot of people, including myself, don’t always know the extent of the problem. As the article says, “the statistics outlined in the works are staggering.” I think a lot of people would be surprised to know: “The colorful 2007 mock tabloid Horror on the National Mall!, originally presented in the pages of the Washington Post, lists jaw-dropping numbers: at the time, the creators of art on view at the National Gallery of Art were 98% male and 99.9% white; respective numbers at the National Portrait Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery were not much better,” and also: “As detailed in the article, a 2014 report by the Association of Art Museum Directors found that only 24% of institutions with budgets over $15 million have female directors, and these women make 29% less than their male counterparts. In addition, just five of the thirty-three museums with budgets over $20 million have female directors.” Not only is securing jobs a problem for women, but job mobility is evidently an issue. According to the article, “statistics for the low numbers of female museum directors” underlined “how few women work their way up from entry-level museum jobs into the upper administrative echelon.”
I thought reading both of these articles together was very informative, because “CRAFTIVISM: THE DO-IT-YOURSELF PRACTICE OF PROTEST DESIGN,” explained how protest itself is important to create a just society, and show how artists can help contribute to that effort. “The Guerrilla Girls Are Still Relevant After All These Years” talked about a very strong, specific example. The Guerrilla Girls article says that, “one of the things that’s appealing about the Guerrilla Girls’ message and the way they broadcast it is that they make clear that everyone in positions of power in the art world bears responsibility for the current state of affairs and can work to improve the situation.” I think art is very personal, and people make intimate connections with art. Because of this, art has the power to confront and to sway, which makes it a very effective method of protest.
In the article, “CRAFTIVISM: THE DO-IT-YOURSELF PRACTICE OF PROTEST DESIGN,” Grindon says, “Many of the rights and freedoms we take for granted were won by disobedience. Oscar Wilde called it man’s original virtue.” A lot of artists are taking up this “virtue” by protesting though their art, which I find very fascinating. I’ve seen a lot about protest art outside of the two articles we read. For example, I found an artist who commented on the beauty industry’s effects on women by photographing nude women with marks from tight undergarments and clothing, razor burns, etc. It’s hard to explain the power of the statement by simply describing it. The images hold all the power.
I was very shocked and impressed after reading “The Guerrilla Girls Are Still Relevant After All These Years.” The Guerilla Girls are evidently extremely effective, using bold, captivating, and concise facts and images to communicate astonishing truths. The article says, “female artists had solo shows at major museums, and powerful women worked as gallerists, curators, journalists, and tastemakers. But there’s something about seeing the black-and-white numbers presented by the Guerrilla Girls, usually in the form of accessible posters, that’s eye opening and enraging.” I think most people know that there is income and job inequality between the sexes, but a lot of people, including myself, don’t always know the extent of the problem. As the article says, “the statistics outlined in the works are staggering.” I think a lot of people would be surprised to know: “The colorful 2007 mock tabloid Horror on the National Mall!, originally presented in the pages of the Washington Post, lists jaw-dropping numbers: at the time, the creators of art on view at the National Gallery of Art were 98% male and 99.9% white; respective numbers at the National Portrait Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery were not much better,” and also: “As detailed in the article, a 2014 report by the Association of Art Museum Directors found that only 24% of institutions with budgets over $15 million have female directors, and these women make 29% less than their male counterparts. In addition, just five of the thirty-three museums with budgets over $20 million have female directors.” Not only is securing jobs a problem for women, but job mobility is evidently an issue. According to the article, “statistics for the low numbers of female museum directors” underlined “how few women work their way up from entry-level museum jobs into the upper administrative echelon.”
I thought reading both of these articles together was very informative, because “CRAFTIVISM: THE DO-IT-YOURSELF PRACTICE OF PROTEST DESIGN,” explained how protest itself is important to create a just society, and show how artists can help contribute to that effort. “The Guerrilla Girls Are Still Relevant After All These Years” talked about a very strong, specific example. The Guerrilla Girls article says that, “one of the things that’s appealing about the Guerrilla Girls’ message and the way they broadcast it is that they make clear that everyone in positions of power in the art world bears responsibility for the current state of affairs and can work to improve the situation.” I think art is very personal, and people make intimate connections with art. Because of this, art has the power to confront and to sway, which makes it a very effective method of protest.