Orlando Arts & Culture , v . 2.3
Bertolt Brecht , circa 1920
a federal department that can ’ t spell DuBois , the recommended eradication of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting forebodes a dismal atmosphere for accessible creative learning . This conservative fi scal ideology signals the coming of an anti-art era , and raises the question , “ Will there also be singing ?” Or , can art endure and persist ?
In times of fear and uncertainty — and totalitarianism — power is historically consolidated not only through policy but also through reasonable and necessary refocusing on so-called lower order needs by those under siege . In spite of this , a key aim for artists and viewers will be to resist the ideology of art ’ s irrelevance . Without denying the need for real and immediate harm reduction , or the critical questions surrounding the role of the artist as ally , I contest the view that art making and political action exist in isolated worlds . At its best , art is not an exclusivist escape but rather a mode of engaging with , understanding , and responding to the world . Still , in mounting resistance , it is crucial to think deeply about complicity and allyship . To my mind , the most important action for artists and organizers in making and showing socially engaged , movement , or activist art is to make way for the work . Not only individuals , but also institutions and organizations , should be refl ecting on reparations and employing power to refocus attention on work by those most specifi cally and urgently affected . More than ever , it is important to give credit where credit is due , to share resources , and to expand our profi ciency in hearing and responding to criticism . For art institutions and curators , this is accompanied by the necessity to be courageous in selecting work that challenges , not upholds , dominance , and to reject exploitative arts .
To use a popular example , Shepard Fairey ’ s We the People series , and in particular his American fl ag hijab design , epitomizes solidarity
Figure Feminisme Noire , Benjamin Biayenda
gone wrong . In appropriating symbols and images , Fairey takes away attention and opportunities for artists of the identities he portrays to speak for themselves and to declare their own principles and priorities . This problem of erasure is disturbingly common . To serve as the cover image accompanying a recent Women ’ s March on Washington story , The New Yorker arts editor selected work by a white artist who recast the Rosie the Riveter archetype as a woman of color . This concept has radical potential but collapses under questions of why , if the intended message concerns intersectionally centering the struggle , creative work by someone closer to the intersections was not selected for publication . Putting her practice above subject matter , the cover artist responded to criticism of the magazine ’ s choice by suggesting , “ You can read more about my entire , lengthy thought process behind the piece if you Google my name .” Instead , I searched online for Namibian illustrator Benjamin Biayenda ’ s Figure Feminisme Noire .
Right about now , many of us are clamoring to confront the mounting hegemony obscured by media confusion and policymaking by predator swamping . As we ’ re incrementally muted by the “ banality of evil ,” it ’ s important to refresh a recognition of a critical function of the work of artists — one that is connected to political power : artists make poetry agent through overwhelming obstacles . They provide both means of fathoming adversity and rendering interventions , counternarratives , and alternative inroads to grappling with it . Through radical imagination , they shape scaffolding for direct action — and even for singing — in and about the dark times .
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