Post 4- Johana Lira

 PART 1

1. Chapter 2- The Art of Activism: Your All-Purpose Guide to Making the Impossible 

• "Capitalism is based upon things: producing things and consuming things. What’s overlooked when we focus on things is an understanding and appreciation of how things are made and who makes them; that is, the process of creation"

- I don't think that all the people that go to museums or galleries even take the time to think about how hard the artists worked and all the process that he or she did in order to finish the artwork that they see in these big places. I think expectators take for granted all those things, and they don't appreciate the artists. More nowadays, society (teens or young adults) only go to museums to look interesting and 'sophisticated', but they don't stand in front of the painting to look at all the details or to ask themselves why the artists did the artwork, the meaning behind art. 

• "Creativity isn’t a product, it’s a process. It’s a process that helps us to notice new objects and events, make new connections, and see the world in different ways"

- I honestly love this quote because I am amazed at how creativity can lead to beautiful artworks. Whenever I go to a museum or gallery or show, I wonder how, why, and what was the intention of the artists were. Sometimes I'm even confused because I feel that me as an artist lack a little creativity and when I see other artists I wonder what was going through their minds or lives in order to make such beautiful and interesting pieces. Creativity is a weapon and us artists will use it to fight what we think is wrong in the world.  

2. Toward a Curatorial Activism| Dr. Maura Reilly 

• "It’s shameful. However, it’s not surprising: Western Art – it’s a White Male thing"

- Sadly, we still live in a 'white male thing' when it comes to Western Art, and it's something that is very normalized. In research from 2023 it talks about the MoMA acquiring more art from white male artists, and that there has only been a small chance of acquiring female, Latinos and black artists. Really, the percentage is 85% white male artists, 55% female artists, 14.1% latino artists, and 4.4% black artists. Still, the artists who are more dominant in art are white males. We need to acquire more works from females and artists of color so that everyone who goes to the museums or galleries can feel more related to it. 

•  "Thus the question of equality, she argues, devolves around the very nature of institutional structures themselves, and the white masculine prerogative they assume as ‘natural’. It is precisely this ideological stronghold over women and non-white people that has kept them from succeeding historically" 

- We all know that women artists will not have the same impact as white male artists because society has normalized it globally. We also know that in order to have more women and artists of color in museums and galleries, we need to change the system completely and make white male artists be less normalized because not all white male artists are the 'best'. 

An art intervention is when an artist go to the public with their art or the art can engage with the public and can bring awareness and changes to what is normalized. Artists can create a message by addressing what is going on in the world in their art and giving an example of how to fight back. We can design an art intervention strategy by researching all the inequalities that are going on in the world, like, for example, ice and the abuse of power they have, how they kill everyone that gets in their way and how they target every hispanic legal/illegal. Curatorial activism is when curators don't agree with the art system and include female artists of color that may have been excluded. They show these artists to change the system. Art spaces are great to show art activism because these are safe places where artists can express themselves, they can be free to the public, allowing them to be more educated and inspire everyone to change society.

PART 2

The idea I have for my art intervention is photographing testimonies, especially of women. I want to photograph all the women in our classroom or in public. All the pictures are going to be in black and white; there will be portraits of them wearing tape. They will have to write all the words men have told them that sexualize them, and how they felt about it; did they feel disgust? Did they develop insecurities? I want all of our voices to be heard, to show how hard ONE word can ruins your life.