Art Is Resistance

I think of effective artists as people that can compel a community, represent the ideas of the community, translate them for others in  an accessible fashion for a chosen audience.  So, insofar as discourse about lefty ideas will spread those ideas and lead to their realization, the art representing them and inciting discourse is resistance against oppressive ideologies.  I did art in undergrad, so feeling that it's powerful, useful is self-serving, feeds into the pleasure I derive from creating.  But, I do think it's important that marginalized or oppressed groups use art to gain sympathy and understanding, even to garner pride in ones own identity.  That's the power of iconography that we see in commercial art (ad campaigns).  Some examples are more direct, like political cartoons, guerrilla art (like the grrilla girlz).  I became aware of art as politically powerful reading comics as a kid, and then playing with sequential art and narratives in undergrad.

Bleached for Chile

I love the Art Is Resistance campaign Trent Reznor created as part of the alternate reality game for Year Zero. I think this camaign should be continued by artist activists with a life of its own beyond the original Year Zero purpose.