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“Art is for Pleasure, Not for Politics”
Words Sarah Adama
Why can't we separate art from politics. Is art inherently political and if so, can art be apolitical?
One fundamental question stands, is art a reflection of society or is society influenced by art? It isn’t so black and white, and the answer isn’t so clear. Society has found many ways to communicate, through speech, writing and art. Art has been able to translate experiences across time, space, and culture, where words may be limited. The art world has to date been unable to reach a consensus on the relationship between art and politics.
Artwork, unlike facts-based historical records, has shown its ability to preserve how it felt to exist in a particular place at a particular time. There are many dimensions to art, besides the elements of self-expression and fulfilment, it has become a way of bringing people together in our increasingly globalised media-driven world.
Though some maintain that “art is for pleasure, not for politics” the reality is, artists and the people viewing the art, are citizens of somewhere. Citizens with social and political responsibilities, it is incredibly difficult, possibly even impossible to separate politics from our daily lives.
Studying the history of art, you may find that art has supported politics by providing a platform for citizens to express themselves, acted as a means of protest and of course, political satire. It emerged as a tool of political propaganda during the major conflicts in history, especially WW1 and WWII. There are many examples of art reflecting the political context at the time. Influenced by culture, an artist’s work can be defined within the social context of the time. For many artists, their creativity is a tool in times of social change or social unrest, whether the purpose is activism or storytelling, there is something that resonates with humans regardless of background or geopolitical locations, that words alone cannot provoke.
So then, can contemporary art influence political discussion? Now even more so, with our societies interconnected now more than ever, art brings communities together and instills values without the need for words. Many contemporary artists address our political era’s most pressing issues, what was once seen to be a comfort, and a place to find solace in an uncertain world, seems to be a medium of expression for every problem of society.
The greatest works of art are timeless – they have been able to transcend time and space within which they were created and still evoke the same feelings today. Where some may not be deemed to be directly active in political processes, art seems to have made us active participants. Sometimes, words aren’t the only way.
Some may now see art work as a piece of decoration, or one for escapism. We can be reminded by the assertion of Pablo Picasso that, “Painting is not made to decorate apartments; it is an offensive and defensive instrument of war against the enemy.”
