Is Art Political?

Art is a tool that interconnects between people; it exists and functions in a social context. An artist creates it and someone views it. However, lobbying or politicization is sometimes seen as a corruption of art. But it isn't.

To ask "Is Art Political?" is to ask what circumstances of artistic creation and reaction make it possible for art to be political? As circumstances change, "political art" may no longer be political, "non-political" art may become political and so on. Not all Art is political, but all politics has an Aesthetic.

Some people will debate that art is just something that should look good it's not there to make a testimonial. As Clement Greenbery said: "I don't see art as having ever in a real sense, affected the course of human affairs".  Other conflicting view for example like Bertold Bercht said: "Art is not a mirror to reflect reality but a hammer with which to shape it" - 1930's.

Art, through the centuries, has been the visual representation of human feeling and reflection. In different forms, the artist expresses the material or invisible as a response to the complex external world that surrounds them. Therefore, the independence with which they face the outstanding themes that concern the society to which they belong differences with the politics of the state, which has traditionally tried to use cultural and artistic expression to reinforce the dominant ideology.

As a graphic designer, Poster art for example aims to make people think about their own thoughts, feelings and opinions and in the end of the day they should come up with their own assumptions. There is no right and wrong. Usually artists will create their art without explaining it. It should leave the viewer wonder. It’s away to keep the door of creativity open for everyone’s thoughts, wherever the journey of their minds will take them to.

Artists, whether designers, film makers, painters and even story tellers should be confident about making change through their art skills. Art is a very distinctive method of embodying political contribution. It should be a statement but should be open to interpretation, it is more remarkable and interesting when you don’t have to tell people what is political about a certain art piece, people just know without being told.

Creating political art takes time and care. It's usually not the sort of art advertisement that would be seen on billboards its usually very personal. It does have impact but not direct one nor demanding as other forms of political art.

The power of posters at the end of the 19th century is very remarkable how posters inspire political activism. It is hard to measure the impact of posters in that time but posters have been widely used throughout history. It evokes the most emotional situation and usually is very iconic. It is aesthetically making a statement. It presents the news and making people aware of what is happening. 

To conclude, exhibiting political issue in an art context is a promising and positive act. For sure it does not depoliticized the political ‪incident, in fact it widen the perspective of people or folk with a new medium, that they might not be fully aware of or does not take it seriously as it should be. Art is a tool that one can be used to reflect on a certain setting, circumstance and situation. Using politics as a context would make people more intentionally aware of the struggles that some people might be facing in part of the world. Moreover it could be a method of educational channel that aware people about history and where certain movements and ideas began or originated.

The aim of political art is to experiment and transform the world in terms of social oppression. Critics might debate that presenting such worlds could take away its real meaning, as political art ought to perform within the world not signify it.

The accomplishment of political art is only by being able to make people reflect and use their own brain in thinking and finding answers for their unresolved interjections. Using art as a medium tool, would give the society the space to query certain situations instead of being one- sided.