Art et contestation Cours

A lot of artists consider it their duty not only to create, but also to be a messenger, a witness to their time in history so that future generations will get to know what it was like. Writers and painters are able to portray the people and to describe or paint the landscapes and cities of their times.

When La Bruyère wrote Les Caractères in the 17^th century, he ensured that current and future readers would be able to discover the French Royal court through his eyes and therefore strove to paint a picture that would endure the test of time. With his quill, he painted portraits of a now bygone place and time that remain famous centuries later.

Historical portraits have long been a popular and effective way for painters to bear witness to their times and share with future generations what some moments and places in times looked like. Before the invention of photography, painted portraits were the best way for important historical, political, powerful or religious figures to ensure their legacy after their death.

Without portraitists like John Trumbull, we would have a lot more trouble imagining the Revolutionary War or the Founding Fathers. The painter himself fought in the War and later took the opportunity to use his talent in order to immortalize some important events or figures from this important moment in American history. Some of his most famous works of art include The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, The Declaration of Independence and General George Washington Resigning His Commission. Several of those paintings were purchased by the U.S. Congress and can nowadays be seen in the Rotunda, bearing witness to a seminal moment in the nation's history.

Not only do artists play an important role as portraitists by freezing a moment in time for everyone to see, but through the very act of creation, they are also able to share a unique perspective on a subject. That act of creation allows the reader/viewer/spectator to react to a specific work of art. More often than not, art provokes a reaction or causes one to reflect further on a given subject.

Furthermore, art often triggers an emotional reaction, we can adore a painting or hate another on sight. On the other hand, art can also grow on us over time, such as we come to appreciate a painting that we initially disliked, or when we start worshipping a book only after having reread it for the third time.

Art has been around since mankind has existed which begs the question: why is art necessary in any human society? There is evidence of Prehistoric art (40,000–4,000 B.C.) like the world famous Hall of the Bulls that can be observed in the Lascaux Caves in France which definitely implies that artistic creation is a necessary part of humanity because it encourages people to make sense of their emotions, to think, to broaden their world view.

When looking at the famous painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso unveiled to the world in 1937, one cannot help but feel the artist's intention: to make us feel the utter violence and despair that are inherent to warfare. Even without analyzing the painting in depth, the emotional reaction of the viewer is usually immediate and quite strong. That initial reaction then leads to a deeper reflection on the subject the artist has chosen to depict. That makes art an extremely powerful tool because of its ability to reach a huge number of people.

Artists are reaching out to people, they want to communicate their feelings, their ideas and their thoughts on what they are witnessing.

Artists, through the different means they have at their disposal: books, paintings, photography, movies, music and many more, have the ability to reach a huge number of very different types of people. Art is a universal means of communication and a hugely popular one. That is especially true today when means of distribution have improved so much that art is now a worldwide commodity, reaching every corner of the planet in a short time.

In that sense, artists are some of the most powerful people on earth because they have the capacity to touch a wide audience and become part of the collective unconscious (the part of the unconscious mind which is derived from ancestral memory and experience and is common to all humankind). Some works of art have had such an impact on the world that people travel thousands of miles just to see them.

One needs only to look at huge stadiums filled with screaming fans of famous musicians to understand an artist's ability to reach so many people.

It is obvious that even before artists started willingly creating art that was politically or socially engaged, they were already playing an essential role in the molding of the minds of their contemporaries but also, and this is especially significant, of future generations who would rely on these works of art to understand what came before. But some artists take it further than that by creating art that is meant to criticize or denounce the society in which they live.

Artists can present another society to the world which ultimately provokes a reflection upon one's own society. One of the tools that artists use in order to encourage the reader to question their world is creating utopian or dystopian fiction. Both forms allow the reader to take a step back and reflect upon their own society by comparing it to the invented model. What is powerful about this literary genre is that the artists will include elements of their own world that the readers will be able to identify and think about.

In a utopia, an idealized society is presented in order to offer a reflection on the author's own setting and encourage the reader to think about the different ways to better the world in which they live.

Dystopian fiction is the very opposite of utopian fiction, but it serves the same purpose: creating a society where great injustice and suffering can be found. By analyzing the mechanisms that lead to such a society, authors warn their readers about the possible future awaiting their current society if things don't change. By exaggerating the shortcomings of their country, the artist offers the reader a distorting mirror meant to point out the evils of mankind and society.

Dystopias are today more popular than ever and have found their way to popular culture through movies and TV shows.

An artist can choose to create art aimed at overtly criticizing some aspects of their society or the institutions that they feel are behaving in a way that is hurtful or potentially dangerous. To do so, artists can use protest songs, social novels, protest art or movies.

As a result of its very nature, street art has been a game changer for the "industry" of art. Art was traditionally something to be created and shared through traditional means of distribution: auctions, sales, museums, exhibitions. But street art, on the contrary, is directly made for public viewing since it is created in the public space where everyone can have access to it for free: on buildings, on streets, on trains, etc.

Originally, street art was a means for the artists to express themselves, to voice or embody their angst or revolt against the system. It has evolved quite a bit and is now recognized as a legitimate form of art, but it remains associated with protest or guerilla art because its very nature goes against established boundaries.

New forms of art are always seen as subversive. New movements, new dance styles, new genres of music have always been met with resistance even when their aim wasn't overtly political. New artistic styles and forms of expression appear threatening or subversive to a society that is not yet used to them.

This was the case when jazz music first appeared and people associated it with a lifestyle of excess. This was again the case when rock and roll hit the airwaves.

This often has to do with generational divides and conflicts, where the older part of the population and the establishment cling to styles of art they are used to when the younger generations looks for new ways to express themselves.

In the mid 1970s, the punk movement came on the scene in Great Britain and America. Through visual art, literature, music, fashion and strong ideologies, this artistic subculture defined itself in contradiction to the established ideas and institutions that dominated western societies at that time: they valued individual freedoms, non-conformity, direct action and protested the establishment, authority, corporatism and governments in general that they believed to be corrupted and dangerous.

Many artists believe that it is their duty to create work that will challenge their society or political regime. However, when it comes to authoritarian regimes, the control of artists is at the core of their politics because, more often than not, free art (as opposed to state-sanctioned propaganda) is a way to question or threaten totalitarian power. In a democratic regime, there is less of a risk for artists to suffer political, state-sanctioned backlash for their political opinions and works of art. But they can sometimes nevertheless suffer the consequences of their political stances on a more commercial, moral or personal level.

Many authoritarian regimes like the Stalinist government of the 1930s required art to meet strict criteria of style and content to ensure that it only served the purposes of state leadership.

In a democratic regime, artists can suffer commercial backlash. Censorship can play a big role in stopping an artist from sharing his work. Many famously socially engaged works of art were banned from certain places (public libraries for examples) or from being taught in school.

Moreover, the artists can also suffer a backlash those who disagree with their political stance.

You can also sometimes encounter artists who have suffered commercially after taking position on a controversial or burning issue.

While it is impossible to be able to measure the exact impact of protest art on a society, there is no denying that art and artists still play a major role in shaping people's minds and opinions about political or social issues.

Art does not enforce change on a global scale, it doesn't actually change the world, but it does have an impact on individuals on a personal level. It changes people's minds, it broadens their horizons, it forces them to watch, think, question, agree or disagree. It also allows people to find common ground through the shared experience of having seen/read or watched a work of art and discussing it with others. The debates around engaged art and its worth give legitimacy to that very kind of art by showing of much of a starting point for debate it can be.

The worst argument against the importance of protest art is practical utility. It's very hard to find songs, movies, novels, paintings that have led to a policy change. But that is not the purpose of art.

Protest art makes people feel less alone, it gives them a voice or allows them to find theirs. It can also cement their beliefs and give them the courage to act on them.