Had a sub today, spent time looking at the concept of socially engaged art; or art that engages people in social issues. Condé and Beveridge were used as a study. Their work is photo-collaged and surreal. The subject often deals with social issues.
After looking at images we came up with some social issues that are relevant to us or are current in our culture. Some of the key ones are:
- the removal of all bunnies from UVic
- Rising cost of tuition without equal raises in funding for students
- issues related to the recent renovations on campus (lack of sprinkler systems in Mac, continuing classes while asbestos removal was occurring)
- The slaughtering of 100 dogs in Whistler.
Following the class discussion we divided into groups and make collages related to the dog issue using images taken from materials in the magazine/paper bins in the class. The result was three different, but effective socially engaged art collages.
This class was extremely helpful in defining what engaged art is and looking at some of the devices used to create an engaged experience for the viewer. The exercise creating the collages of the dogs in groups was good as well. We were able to develop an image as a group that had more punch than would likely have developed if a single individual had developed it.
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