This is one of the favorite brief exercises in our artistic activism trainings, and a great place to start. Step 1 Imagine that you are a superhero. Yes, a superhero. Like all superheroes you have special powers – we’ll get to that soon. You also have an outfit. You are very strong and powerful. The …
Category Archives: Research Blog
Artistic Activism at the UN
Steve and Steve were at the United Nations this week, where they gave a presentation to the Arts and Culture Exchange of the UN Development Program. Ostensibly about “new communications strategies to sell old ideas, like the UN”, the Steve’s presentation introduced the audience of largely UN communications staff to artistic activism, and led them …
Elliot Crown
Images operate the same way that memories do; images have this deep-seated attachment to your mind and I like to think that the images ingrain themselves into people…It really makes them want to stop for a minute and read the article. And hopefully it’s not a terribly biased article. And hopefully the image, in itself, …
Do petitions do anything?
An article on the New York Times today looks at Change.org and whether online petition campaigns are truly effective. The answer is a qualified yes. “No president is going to do an about-face on a major policy because of 20,000 signatures,” he wrote. “But coupling that petition with other tactics like protests, rallies, phone calls, …
C4AA Fundamentals #6: Process
Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert give some pointers on developing a creative practice. In arts and activism the product gets all the glory. In the art world, an artist’s talent is judged by what she has created: the painting that hangs on the wall of a museum or is sold in a gallery, or the …
The Creators Project Recommends Center for Artistic Activism to Artists
The fantastic Creators Project just posted a new story on us: “Need More Activism in Your Art? Look No Further Than This Center.” A lot of artists might be thinking about how to incorporate more political activism into their practices right about now, and if you’re one of them then you’re in luck, because there …
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C4AA Fundamentals #5: Cognitive Science
The co-founders of the C4AA discussed human cognition – how people think and process information. The Questions Why is it that people don’t seem to care about truth and the facts? Why is it so hard to change people’s political opinions? How do we introduce new ideas in audiences when their way of thinking doesn’t …
Federico Hewson
here’s socially engaged art, there’s socially engaged business, and there can also be socially engaged horticulture; flowers working for different social issues, whether that’s fundraising or awareness or development. Federico Hewson is a writer, curator, and activist currently based in Berlin, Germany. Hewson is the creator of the Valentine Peace Project and an advocate for …
C4AA’s Steve Lambert talks Artistic Activism on Al Jazeera
Steve Lambert was a panelist in-studio on Al Jazeera’s The Stream on Monday and Tuesday’s show. It aired internationally and the topic was “Art and Activism.” He was a guest with Molly Crabapple, Annya San, and Rajkamal Kahlon. You can watch archived versions of the shows below or on the Al Jazeera site. Monday: Art …
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C4AA Fundamentals Webinar #4: What we’ve learned from history
Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert dug back into social movements through the ages. What did they discover? All successful activism has been artistic activism. Through examples, going back thousands of years, we examine the lessons from creative movements of the past, finding the kernels of ideas you can apply in your work today. Many workshop …
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C4AA Fundamentals Webinar #3: What is Artistic Activism?
Founders of the Center for Artistic Activism answer the question, what do we mean when we say “artistic activism” anyway? Through looking at disparate examples, we expand our thinking on the the ways creativity can affect power. (Many past participants cite this section as one of the most inspiring.) But we’ll also talk about common …
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What we’ve been reading this week
Donald Trump Will be President: This is What we do Next “…let’s exhale and let go of our fear, so we can think as clearly as we can about who we are and what we’re trying to accomplish. We can start by sharing whatever educated guesses we have about what we should do for the …
How to intervene if you witness Islamophobic harassment
Artist Maeril made this illustrated guide a few months ago, but it’s now more relevant than ever. You can find more of Maeril’s work on her Tumblr and Twitter. via Boing Boing
C4AA Fundamentals Webinar #2: Building a Creative Campaign
Founders of the Center for Artistic Activism discuss how an effective campaign for change is structured. We cover goals, objectives, tactics, and strategy and how you can use these concepts in your creative practice and/or collective organizing. C4AA Fundamentals is a free webinar series is designed to cover the core concepts of artistic activism for …
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C4AA Fundamentals Webinar: How to Use Creativity in Organizing
The founders of the Center for Artistic Activism discuss some basic principles of using creativity in organizing and pitfalls to avoid. This webinar is designed to provide some structure to your thinking and planning around how to creatively, and effectively, respond in the weeks to come. The webinar is done and we have a video …
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Most creative election ad of 2016?
We don’t agree with his policies, but this ad is funny and very effective: Gerald Daugherty, a Republican county commissioner in the Austin-area Travis County, has produced one of the best ad-spots of the season, depicting him as a politics-obsessed public servant whose long-suffering, side-eyeing wife can’t wait for him to be re-elected so she …
FiNK
Visual appreciation for my art is wanted I suppose, but not totally necessary…Ideally, I want my audience to react in some way either positively or negatively to my art and either a smile or smirk will keep me happy as either way I have gotten an audience response to my art. I suppose the artivist …
Felicia Young
My theory is one of creative collaboration and joyous affirmation — activating change through the inspirational power of the arts and affecting the individual on a deep emotional level, which can be imperceptible, as well as through more visible and public, celebratory and collective community action. People may look to statistics and metrics, such as numbers engaged and gardens saved, which we …
Diana Arce
he change has to come from socialization. It’s the way that people are being taught to interact with other people. I don’t think it’s something that’s going to come quickly; I think it’s a generational issue. If we do enough right things now and teach these younger generations of people what’s up, get them on …
André Leipold
It’s not that we have a vision necessarily, but we try to poke holes in the scenery – a scenery which is built up by the politicians, by the media. They are playing theatre, too, with our lives and with our destinies. We are making a counter-theatre to go against theirs. So, by poking holes …
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