How Art Moves // “When was the last time you went streaking?”

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending the Chicago Ideas Week “Art: How It Moves” talk, which explored how art can be used “as a medium for good, a method for inspiring change,” and “a symbol of protest.” My kind of talk.

(Thanks to birthday twin Nathan Stanton, former I CAN DO THAT artist, for the ticket! And thanks for being such a fun person to sit next to!) (On top of some hilarious commentary that wasn’t always quite under the breath, he’d cheer for each speaker as if we were at a football game [not that I would know /art nerd], which, really, is how everyone should react to art.)

Petra Bachmaier of Luftwerk, showing off Luminous Field.

I liked what multimedia artist Phil Hansen had to say after tricking the entire audience into tearing apart his work (gasps ensued):

“We can’t create without destroying, and we can’t destroy without creating.”

and what Naomi Natale, Founder of One Million Bones, a project that acts as a “symbol of our human connection, our humanity, that we belong to each other,” had to say about the power of art:

“Leaving an indelible mark on one’s soul [is] what the greatest art does.

[With art, we can] imagine a different reality is possible.”

Photographer Carlos Javier Ortiz shifted the focus from global crises back home, back to our backyards, with his stirring “Too Young To Die” project, which brings attention to youth violence in Chicago. Aside from addressing the problem in ways the mainstream media won’t, the project also looks at resilience and strength, and aims to teach young people to communicate through art. Check it out.

Other speakers included Donna Cox, who discussed the intersections between art and science (be still, my heart); multimedia artist Petra Bachmaier of Luftwerk, the folks responsible for the wondrous Luminous Field installation at the Bean; and Carter Cleveland, Founder of Art.sy, which launched to the public on Monday.

I live-tweeted the event here (scroll down a little). All relevant tweets are tagged with “CIW” and run the gamut from inspirational quotes like the above to things like… this. Yep. (The title of this post is also a direct quote from the talk. Well, artists do bare all.)

Chicago Ideas Week runs through the 14^th—if you’re in town, I’d strongly encourage going to at least one event. Be inspired!

Another former I CAN DO THAT artist, Chris Barrett, asked me to help him with his new portrait photography endeavor a few days ago, and I was happy to oblige / sit awkwardly and be unsure of what to do with my hands, oblivious to the fact that these were, like, super close-ups. I’m using one of his photos on the “About” page and on my profile. I CAN DO THAT Family forever!

Discussion: Art as political weapon, artist as social instigator // This painting would look nice in my foyer

TED posted a talk by Shirin Neshat in which she illustrates the challenges she faces—as well as the stimuli from which she draws empowerment and inspiration—as “an Iranian woman artist living in exile”:

What strikes me most from Neshat’s talk is her characterization of the Iranian artist as the voice of the people:

We are considered, as artists, central to the cultural, political, social discourse in Iran. We are there to inspire, to provoke, to mobilize, to bring hope to our people. We are the reporters of our people and are communicators to the outside world. Art is our weapon. Culture is a form of resistance. I envy sometimes the artists of the West for their freedom of expression, for the fact that they can distance themselves from the question of politics, from the fact that they are only serving one audience, mainly the Western culture. But also I worry about the West, because often, in this country, in this Western world, culture risks to be a form of entertainment.

Western art, as Neshat sees it, is able to function outside of a political context, but does that mean it should? Does the artist bear a certain social responsibility to challenge the status quo? Or is it enough for the artist to entertain? What, exactly, is the role of the artist?