Why art has the power to change the world
One of the good challenges today is that we frequently feel untouched by the issues of others and by global issues like temperature change, even once we could easily do something to assist. We don’t feel strongly enough that we are a part of a worldwide community, a part of a bigger we. Giving people access to data most frequently leaves them feeling overwhelmed and disconnected, not empowered and poised for action. this can be where art can make a difference. Art doesn’t show people what to try and do, yet engaging with a decent work of art can connect you to your senses, body, and mind. It can make the globe feel.
As an artist, I’ve got traveled to several countries around the world over the past 20 years. On someday, I could interchange in front of an audience of world leaders or exchange thoughts with a distant minister and discuss the development of an artwork or exhibition with local craftsmen the following. Working as an artist has brought me into contact with a wealth of outlooks on the planet and introduced me to an unlimited range of truly differing perceptions, felt ideas, and knowledge. having the ability to require part in these local and global exchanges has profoundly affected the artworks that I make, driving me to make art that I hope touches people everywhere.
Most folks know the sensation of being moved by a piece of art, whether it’s a song, a play, a poem, a novel, a painting, or a Spatio-temporal experiment. once we are touched, we are moved; we are transported to a replacement place that’s, nevertheless, strongly rooted during a physical experience, in our bodies. We become awake to a sense which will not be unfamiliar to us but which we didn’t actively specialize in before. This transformative experience is what art is consistently seeking.
I believe that one in every one of the main responsibilities of artists – and therefore the concept that artists have responsibilities may come as a surprise to some – is to assist people not only get to grasp and understand something with their minds but also to feel it emotionally and physically. By doing this, art can mitigate the numbing effect created by the glut of data we are faced with today, and motivate people to show thinking into doing.
Engaging with art isn’t simply a solitary event. the humanities and culture represent one in every of the few areas in our society where people can close to share an experience whether or not they see the globe in radically other ways. The important thing isn’t that we agree about the experience that we share, but that we consider it worthwhile sharing an experience in any respect. In art and other kinds of cultural expression, disagreement is accepted and embraced as a necessary ingredient. during this sense, the community created by arts and culture is potentially a good source of inspiration for politicians and activists who work to transcend the polarising populism and stigmatization of others, positions, and worldviews that are sadly so endemic publicly discourse today.
Art also encourages us to cherish intuition, uncertainty, and creativity and to look constantly for brand spanking new ideas; artists aim to interrupt rules and find unorthodox ways of approaching contemporary issues. My friend Ai Weiwei, for instance, the nice Chinese artist, is currently making a brief studio on the island of Lesbos to draw attention to the plight of the voluminous migrants trying to enter Europe immediately and also to make a degree of contact that takes us beyond an us-and-them mentality to a broader idea of what constitutes we. this is often a technique that art can engage with the globe to vary the globe.