Many artists have been responding to the rise of Donald Trump and the dangerous rhetoric surrounding his campaign from its beginnings, turning to their art as a form of resistance. This art-making follows a long tradition, but perhaps—due to a number of factors—has never been so important and widespread. The recent surge of politicians who have capitalized on addressing their supporters in a personal and immediate way, appealing to emotions rather than critical thinking and bypassing the regulation of accepted political establishment and media, mirrors the rise in the number of artists who use social media in place of established artistic platforms to gain recognition and ground their work in personal experience and testimony rather than theory. This emphasis on the individual brings art and politics into similar realms and gives artists an increasing opportunity to effect change.
The combination of a media-saturated world and the incessant Trump-era news cycle is dangerous—inviting constant and immediate digestion of current events with no subsequent action. Without engagement, we run the risk of accepting—consciously or not—a dangerous worldview that normalizes what is absolutely not normal. Thoughtful art can slow us down and, in turn, help us persistently metabolize the goings-on of America and the world.
Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla’s 2005 interventional performance “Recruit” at Art Basel Miami Beach can be looked back upon as an example worth following of this type of engaging art. The two artists, who both live and work in San Juan, Puerto Rico, asked a pair of US Army recruitment officers to man a stall within the international art fair and conduct their usual recruitment tactics. As the officers engaged visitors and even struck up discussion surrounding the war in the Middle East, this performance served as a constant and haunting reminder to those attending the fair that the United States—the country where Art Basel Miami Beach is held—was (and still is) a nation very much at war.
Artists creating works like these, which push the viewer to process and form stances, fight the dangerous immediacy and normality of today’s political events. In a country that never ceases in its search for political saviorism, art isn’t, and will never be, a savior, but rather a light-giver. Art is there to push back and add friction to otherwise frictionless situations; art is slow-burning fuel for action and change.
Isaiah LaGrand
Staff Member