Seminar 4 - Activism, Politics and Authorship (click to comment)

Nicholas Mirzoeff - ‘Changing the World’

Reading Nicholas Mirzoeff’s essay ‘Changing the World’ struck up many questions in my head regarding how social media influences political uprisings and social campaigns, and vice versa. The article, on the whole, discusses rebellions and upheavals against governments across the globe and how they have become influenced and fed by the use of social media and the internet. It is interesting how the two feed off one another. Mirzoeff summarizes this well when he says “[t]his set of effects, from protests to social media, mainstream media and back to protests, is indicative both of how the new global situation has changed and how change itself is now a key subject for anyone interested in the visual” (Mirzoeff 282).

Personally, I believe that in today’s age the media has a significant influence on public opinion. Often it is difficult to determine truth from what is projected on our screens. Even some television personalities adopt personas which better elicit reactions, even though those personas may not be a true representation of them as a person. Do they then believe in the views they express, or are those views just part of the character as well? Media today often creates guilt in people who don’t completely agree with the opinions displayed as “right.” Suddenly you’re seen as “closed minded” or “ignorant and backwards thinking” if you question what the media wants you to think. This idea then seems to emerge that you’re entitled to your own opinion as long as it’s the same as my own or doesn’t go against my own. But when are there negative consequences to trending ideas represented in social media?

How does the internet spread information about these things? “Go Fund Me” or hashtags beg the question are you interested in the cause or just feel the need to participate? During the #MeToo movement I heard some debate and differing opinions regarding participation by certain people. Some believed people ‘telling their story’ enhanced the movement, while others disliked everyone using the hashtag as they felt it diluted those who had been deeply hurt or effected by the issue. Did some only use the hashtag to get a sense of popularity brought on by the movement? Are there times where the media influences us in a way that doesn’t portray the full story?

From Mirzoeff’s article it’s clear that Social Media makes a difference. Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, afterward a revolution started, year earlier another man had done the same, Bouazizi’s act had received more publicity via Facebook which helped spark the revolution. This makes me wonder, is social media the new art? How can art affect change? JR, a French ‘artivist’ during 2011 revolution in Tunisia noticed that for 40 years the only portraits publicly displayed were of dictator Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali. JR decided to bring invisible people from the revolution into the public eye. He used public spaces and worked with Tunisian bloggers, local photographers, and interlocutors to show portraits of those involved in the revolution. Some locations were boldly chosen such as the one placed on Ben Ali’s former house. But JR was criticized for only including 100 posters. As artists, if we are trying to create art for a cause, is it possible we will still encounter lashback or negativity from people who agree with our cause, such as JR’s criticism?

JR - Inside Out - Artocracy Commissariat

JR - Inside Out - Artocracy Commissariat

The Egyptian revolution in 2011 was one of the most striking discussed in the article. Graffiti in Egypt became a way for people to reclaim public space from the dictatorship and through the use of public art people were able to connect with the issues who may not have access to social media. Mohamed Fahmy aka “Ganzeer” was one of the most influential street artists. One of his pieces showed a tank taking down a man on a bike carrying bread (the Egyptian’s representation of life). In 2014 the dictatorship tried to shut down the street art, silencing the voices against the oppression. Ganzeer wrote a pamphlet about how to conduct a protest, he chose to use print instead of web to share it because the web is significantly easier to be tracked by the government. This was an interesting note in the article which I wish Mirzoeff would have explored more. Perhaps he avoided the use of print on internet distribution because it seems to counter what his greater argument is trying to convey? But social media and the internet still had an affect on Ganzeer. When he was arrested for distributing a sticker, a Tweet caused a rush of people to come to the police station, resulting in his release. In the end, social media did have a direct result on the governmental system.

Ganzeer - Egyptian Street Art - unnamed

Ganzeer - Egyptian Street Art - unnamed

Ganzzer Egyptian Street Art - tank and bread in Cairo

Ganzzer Egyptian Street Art - tank and bread in Cairo

As I was reading I began to wonder what other events have happened in recent years, such as the Storming of Area 51 Facebook event, which have gained significant presence on social media? The Storming Area 51 started as meme and joke Facebook event, but, after the government got involved, it turned into Alien-Stock, a music festival in Rachel, Nevada, and was even sponsored by Bud Light. In this case, it was a large conglomerate, Budweiser, which were the partakers in the social media craze. What does it say when a large corporation, such as Budweiser, takes a side in social issues? Does this tip the public opinion scale in any way?

Bud Light - Alien-Stock

Bud Light - Alien-Stock

Art, especially public art that can be interacted with and shared on social media, seems particularly influential. Art has a way of conveying the emotion of a cause, not just the cause itself. One of my favorite pieces with a political edge done by Louisiana artist Brooks Frederick is a portrait of the President of BP pained with tar from the BP Oil Spill that the artist collected from the beaches of the Gulf Coast.

Brooks Frederick - BP “Oil” Paintings - series

Brooks Frederick - BP “Oil” Paintings - series

I am able to share this art because it exists online, but does social media allow issues to reach more people or does it at times isolate groups, such as those who don’t have Internet access or older generations who may not use it? Do these people not get to have a voice since they’re separated from the social causes?

When we see street art, do we always understand it? The Extinction Symbol (earth and an hourglass) by ESP, was something I learned about on a street art tour of Shoreditch and now I notice it on stickers and buttons. What began as a graffiti symbol has become the representation of XR (Extinction Rebellion). If our art is gathered up and used to symbolize a cause, would we agree with its use? What’s the different between this and being commissioned to create art for a cause? Where does our morality come into play? I would want to fully research any cause before my art became associated with it as the cause, or the way in which the cause is carried out, may not be in line with my own values. As artists in today’s world, these are important questions to consider when we put our pieces of art out into the world.

ESP - Extinction symbol

ESP - Extinction symbol

Art in relation to a cause came up in the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the WeAreThe99% sections of Mirzoeff’s article as well. Gillian Wearing is the artist behind Signs, comprised of over fifty colour photographs showing people holding up notes they wrote on a piece of paper. The exhibition series was displayed at City Racing, a small artist-run gallery in London in 1993 and was her first significant collaboration with members of the public. The 2011 OWS campaign in Zuccotti Park, New York demanding economic equality as well as the Tumbler account WeAreThe99% both had signs reminiscent of Gillian Wearing’s photos. Whether these were directly influenced by Wearing’s series is uncertain, but the end result did convey a sense of craft and artistic flare when the final signs were made and photographed. These stimulating images further geared the causes they were being posted to support.

Gillian Wearing - I signed on and they would not give me nothing

Gillian Wearing - I signed on and they would not give me nothing

OWS

OWS

WeAreThe99%

WeAreThe99%

In the end, I wonder when do these movements become art and is there a point where they become one and the same? Mirzoeff’s article brought up several interesting notes and left me with even more questions on social media and its influence in today’s world.

 
Victoria TrentacosteComment