The Exploitation of Art Activism
Activist Art is having a Moment. And by moment, I mean a Golden Age. Where the images we use and the words we write are all inherently, unavoidably political. They say something about us and about the world we want to create.
What do the things we make from our creativity change in the world? Who are we talking to? What do we hope to change?
And so I find the mural on the new Black Lives Matter Plaza delightfully aggressive towards the Temporary Resident in the White House.
The images we use and the words we write are all inherently, unavoidably political as in the technical definition of the word "political" which is rooted in "polis" meaning "the city" so meaning "having to do with the well being of the citizens of that city." What we make and what we say communicate political realities: something about us and about the world we want to create and how it ought to change right here and now.
Which is why there's more to the story of this particular mural.
Black Lives Matter has specific and particular demands, ones that the city of DC has yet to enact while also bearing responsibility for the patterns of gentrification that have altered city neighborhoods in toxic ways. And you better believe there were DC police involved in the rampant abuse of protestors and journalists throughout the recent demonstrations. Google: Swann Street.
A fact that must be stated: Black well-being is the heart of a thriving DC. All of the interesting things about this city comes from Black Culture. Go-go music. Hand dancing. Murals. Community design.
And most recently, Black DC and its cultural forms have been asked to devote their art to institutions who want to adjust their brand image but have not actually aligned their actions to the Movement. Instead, the institutions now see that they will be left behind if they don’t release the right PR statement. And the use of art to make this appearance shift is startling.
That's why the People added the lines "Defund the Police." The art is not simply aimed at President Trump. Protestors insisted that Black Lives Matter has something to do with the local city as well as with the President. Writing this was taking back the BLM statement that had been used to paint a specific picture of the city government.
Art should not be co-opted to "white-wash" cultural institutions who have suddenly realized that if they do not change their scripts on BLM that they will, in fact, lose money and cease to exist. The livelihood of American capitalism is attached to the labor of the black body--it has always been. Will we begin to commit to the THRIVING of the Black Body, the Black Artist as well?
How do we stop our making from exploitation?
Take no payment in “exposure”.
Give generously to those who need what you have and to whom you want to give your skill.
Speak loudly.
Ask for the proof points of how a client will use your work.
Discern whether the work is for appearance or for change.
These steps are true whether or not your art is currently “about” justice and activism. Your art can be abstract or purely technical. It can be a luxury, superfluous to survival. That's not what this is about.
We must ask who is doing what with our work and do we believe in that act? And are we being exploited in how we create?
And as collectors, curators, consultants, directors, the theater owners, Boards of Directors, program managers, writers, reviewers: how will you lead your organization to not exploit the work of artists, particularly Black artists in this time?
"Lifting up the voices of the oppressed" is not code for a new marketing strategy.