Banksy - Street Art for Change

Banksy is a street artist (or graffiti artist, if you prefer) from England. Banksy is a pseudonym. He uses the pseudonym Banksy party to avoid getting caught, but mostly because his art is not meant to glorify the artist, it's to serve as social commentary. It's supposed to make you think. His art is mostly satirical, and commonly uses stencils. His work ranges in size from a small rat on a street sign, to the entire side of a large office building.

Banksy's art has addressed political topics such as anti-war, anti imperialism and anti-capitalism. "We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves." His art has addressed philosophical topics like nihilism and existentialism. Mostly, he utilizes well-known icons and images as social commentary, addressing things such as greed, hypocrisy, poverty, and excessive lifestyles. 

Banksy art has become the best known and most recognizable street art ever. Some of his pieces go for tens of thousands of dollars at art auctions. It's ironic that collectors and celebrities pay so much for the art that mocks them and their excessive lifestyles. 

The primary purpose of his art is to make people think. His use of iconography as satirical social commentary doesn't necessarily advocate anything. But it breeds awareness, which leads to action. Banksy made big news when he did several pieces on the enormous cement barrier wall that separates the West Bank from Israel. This brought a lot of attention to the situation. It drew many photographers who wanted to capture his art. The photographers then photographed the lives of the people and shared plight with the world.

There is a fantastic documentary about Banksy and the rise of street art called Exit Through the Gift Shop. It premiered at Sundance in 2010 (In preparation for the premier, he painted several pieces around Salt Lake and Park City). The documentary was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Banksy's website

Wine to Water

 One of the organizations that I think is the neatest is Wine to Water. This organization stands out from others because it does not simply advocate it's cause. Instead, it sustains itself by raising money from selling wine. Although many people can, and do, feel sympathetic towards different causes, a lot of the time they still do not do anything because it is either inconvenient or requires "too much" of them. However, with Wine for Water, anyone can donate to this wonderful cause, and many do because it only requires them to have a good time in the process.

Initially, it was my family that introduced me to Wine for Water. Though others surly heard about this organization by word of mouth as well, I fell like a lot of Wine for Water's publicity has come as a result of the digital age that we live in. For example, the video embedded in this post explains everything about the founder and the basics of how things were when he first began his endeavor in a short, yet interesting video. If people are able to get a feeling for what the organization is and what it does, as well as be able to understand who it is that is running the whole thing, they are better able to make a connection with it.

 In society, I think artist are very important, whether they are creating moving ads or creating videos to explain things further. Without them, so many good causes would never be recognized, or at least not so well understood. Art resonates with people in a way that words alone cannot, and an artist's job is to create something that will reach out to others and make them feel something for a cause or goal.

When representing others, there are definitely some unique challenges, but some amazing rewards. I believe that one of the greatest challenges in representing others would just be the simple fact that YOU are the one representing them--something they may not be able to do for themselves (or at least not very effectively). When you put so much of yourself into a cause--into loving and  caring for others, I can only imagine that being "in charge" is very stressful because you want to help these people so much and give them a way to a better life. However, through hard work, the payoff is tremendous because you can know that you are the reason that people's lives have changed for the better--not just their lives, but the lives of future generations. Along with representing others is the burden of representing yourself, or presenting yourself in such a way that others can see how much you care so that they will stand behind you. If one is able to successfully connect with others, they will gain their support and be able to better help those in need.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and make a case for this one:



I originally thought about doing something related to SOPA, but then I realized half of everybody would do that, so I might as well find something original. After scouring Youtube for a while, I came across this video and a little bit of a realization dawned on me: a lot of us, myself included, most likely think of “acting for a cause” to involve some official organization, or at least some sort of popular movement. I think when we get caught up in that sort of thinking we forget that causes can be as spontaneous and open-hearted as this one—expressing kindness to those around us.

There’s a lot of hate-filled speech, arguing, name-calling, and downright meanness in our communication as humans, and this video was really cool to me because it made me step back for a minute and consider my actions towards those around me. If given the chance, would I walk over to the megaphone and say something nice? Or would I try to take a minute to rant about something?

Creation in a digital environment often has a very direct impact on the viewer, and in the case of digital media like this video, the creation comes by way of representing and involving random passer-bys on the street. This creates a challenge by keeping the content largely a mystery, which could have embarrassing results if those involved disrespect the motive of the piece of work. And yet the reward when people constructively participate in the completion of such a piece is much greater than had one man stood by himself at the podium and said nice things. In my opinion, the involvement of regular people just passing through the square makes this a stronger piece because it injects a raw humanity into the work, and it presents us with awesome variety.

Art often has a more direct path to the hearts and minds of citizens (eg, music’s ability to support causes and rally support) than politicians and other leaders do; the artist’s responsibility, then, should be to foster uplifting messages that enrich viewers’ lives. And I really think it goes beyond a “role” and is a responsibility.

LOVE AND ACTIVISIM IN THE TIME OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB

When discussing digital storytelling, it feels redundant to remind "the reader" that things can be done real quick because of this here Internet. Technology allows for immediate reactions from a massive audience, you guys. If you were not aware of this, I hope the cave you reside in is well-furnished and clean.  Activism and civic participation have changed significantly because of the super-cyber-speed (Internet talk, keep up sweetheart) that is now taken for granted. Awareness of issues is spread instantly, through social media, news alerts, and deeply concerned text messages. Petitions are signed more easily, money is donated with greater speed, and protests are organized in minutes! That last bit was hubris. But you get the picture. Creating works that support a cause, whether it be through a video raising awareness (seen a lot for SOPA and PIPA, good points of discussion there), a song, a podcast, or a photograph. Pieces such as these can be seen and absorbed by the intended audience pretty durn fast in this digital age. Artists are taking advantage of these readily-accessible tools, and are contributing to various causes and facilitating discussion on issues they care about. That is some civic participation! Right there!

This link is to a song about the Occupy Wall Street movement. It was recorded during a session that wasn't specifically intended for that purpose, and was soon after released online for free. I think the reading pretty clearly showed that an artist should often give a voice to the voiceless. A picture or a film or an album can convey certain ideas, problems, and desires more effectively than a group of people could do otherwise. This song, by the punk band Andrew Jackson Jihad, isn't a sneering cry of defamation, or even an aggressive call to action. It encourages understanding on both sides of an issue that is difficult to observe without bias. It is written and sung with a hopeful and positive attitude, and it comes from a band that isn't always so optimistic. The idea that it could be made available in such a manner is obviously only possible because of the times we live in. What an awesome thing.

Changing Attitudes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbX6mDnMwM

I think that media can be such a powerful tool for social change. This guy Nick, through digital media has the opportunity to share his story with the world. I don't think I've ever seen someone who should be so depressed and yet lives his life in such a way that everyone can be inspired. He loves his life. He loves people. And he loves inspiring people. I came across this video shortly after getting back from my mission. I was super overwhelmed with being back in the real world. For the first time in a year and a half I had to start worrying about my own problems. I felt overwhelmed and preoccupied. My sister, during one of her many hours of addiction to youtube had stumbled across it. She later showed me the longer version of this video. I remember being impressed but more than anything, touched. The kind of love that he had for all of the people he interacted with or talked to was incredible. It was almost as if God had taken away his arms and legs so that he could have a bigger heart. He more or less made me realize that I did not have to stop caring about other people and their problems even though I had come back from the mission. I was so grateful to the people who had decided to document this.

Someone had to record this conference that he had and film Nick during various activities in his life. He had to decide while he was editing which pieces he was going to include and how he wanted to portray Nick. I would assume that a lot of thought went into it from the filmmaker's prospective and also the subject's perspective. Both of them had to be focused on how they wanted their message to come across and tell it in a visually inspiring way.

Art and Advocacy

Creating art within a digital environment is automatically an act of civic participation. I say this because through art, we are either advocating new ideas, challenging old ideas, or reinforcing current ideas. Thus, in one way or another, we are actively participating in a social and cultural discussion. It is my belief that in order to be an effective artist, we must therefore advocate the ideas which we hold to be true, and use art to try to change society and humanity for the better.

By choosing to advocate an idea through art, we can garner respect from others and from ourselves for having made a difference in someones life, as well as having the satisfaction that in some way, our voice was heard. It is wonderful to feel accomplished both in terms of artistic abilities and social advocacy. One challenge that is one we must all consider, however, is the truthfulness and moral implications of our message. Before we commit to spreading our ideas, we must first be absolutely sure that the message will in fact benefit our audience. The worst possible outcome for an artist would be if we somehow caused pain through our actions.

Finally, as an example of how our art can change people's attitudes towards a subject, I would like to share with you the work of directors Erez Tadmor and Guy Nattiv. Together they have created short films that advocate peace and harmony between all groups of people--particularly between Arabs and Israelis. In the short film Strangers, they emphasize that we can work together to solve our problems, and that violence is not an option. I would also encourage you to check out their other short film Offside.

Redefining Beauty

The other day I had the unique opportunity to speak with the two founders of Redefining Beauty, Lexie and Lindsay. For those who are unaware of the purpose behind Beauty Redefined, it started out as a PhD research project for the twin 26 year-old sisters Lexie and Lindsay that eventually evolved into an effort to educate and help women (and men) come to an understanding of how media in every venue has now skewed our vision of what is considered “healthy” or “normal” for our bodies.

Their efforts have been phenomenal in its exponential growth through unconventional means of advertising their cause: post-it notes with their message are often left by followers on magazines promoting a photo shopped version of women’s’ health, as well as billboards now up around not only Utah, but now also Pennsylvania. The Internet has provided these two women with an opportunity to share their message like never before through their website www.beautyredefined.net. On this website, there are numerous examples of blog posts and comments from other women, men and teenagers alike who all share in or are trying to understand the message of this program. Lexie and Lindsay are both currently attempting to turn this project into a non-profit organization to promote these truer ideals for women as well as how both men and women can work to help first become aware of how the media around them is influencing their ideals, as well as discouraging the objectification of women that has become so rampant in our society.

One of my favorite posts that I have seen on their website was about how children’s’ toys and advertising have changed drastically over the course of the past 50 years (this post helps serve some examples, especially for those of us who were kids in the 90’s: http://www.beautyredefined.net/my-sexy-little-pony-how-toddlers-are-taught-sex-appeal/).

An enlightening post on how photo shopping has changed our views in advertising and media can be found here: http://www.beautyredefined.net/photoshopping-altering-images-and-our-minds/

(For all those interested, the 45-minute-ish interview we had with them will take the form of a podcast, which should appear early next month on www.voicesindependent.com -- please note that this was done to promote their cause, not for a profit)

Toms Shoes

First of all, I apologize for the awful quality of this video, but I had trouble finding one of decent quality.

When reading the prompt I immediately thought of this ad that AT&T released where they connected their phone company with the founder of Toms shoes. This was a VERY smart move by AT&T in my opinion. Toms is a shoe company that gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes purchased, as mentioned in the video. AT&T effectively utilizes Toms shoes for advertisements because everybody can connect to types of stories that serves others. In turn people feel like they are helping charity while helping themselves when buying Toms through this ad.

Representing Toms in AT&Ts work was a critical and progressive move they made.

Keith Haring and the Dancin' Dudes

I still remember the first time I viewed a piece of Keith Haring’s art. Much like the 1980s New York-ians that first witnessed his art, Haring’s bright colors and abstract images immediately caught my attention. I soon realized that his art was used for more than just art or income, a concept I wasn’t familiar with. He used his very simple art to bring awareness to serious issues gripping the nation in the late 80s like AIDS and crack addiction. I can’t help but think that if his artwork was being created in our more digital age, his activism could have reached even more people. In many ways this was Haring taking a very active role in his civic community by creating awareness to topics he thought were important.

Who knows how much Keith Haring’s protests actually changed the 1980s or 90s. People may have purchased or admired his art without ever knowing the social implications behind it. However, I think that artists have an important duty to use their respective mediums to try and make a change. Artists often have the power to reach more people in a more impactful manner than some random dude walking around vomiting his thoughts and opinions. This is even more true in the digital age with exposure becoming easier and easier, at least among small groups.

As film students who will (hopefully) go on to create works of art, it is important to remember the surreptitious power we wield. We need to try and create works that inspire people or have some greater message or theme. More benign, straightforward narratives are, of course, appropriate as long as they don’t inadvertently lead the audience to view us or our beliefs in a negative light. This got really ramble-y near the end.

Watch these videos! They will inspire a life of humanitarianism!

This video was made by a group of local filmmakers who work together under the name of The Good Line. I know one of the guys, and have met another of them (who actually graduated from the BYU TMA program). I really, really like their work for many reasons. Not only is everything very professionally done, with beautiful visuals and editing, but their films are also so focused on powerfully storytelling, they can't go wrong. Basically all of their work is focused around promoting the efforts non-profit organizations worldwide. Their aim is to create beautiful and inspirational documentary shorts for the web. I really like this for many reasons, one of which is the way their films can so easily be accessed. Anyone in the world can go to their website or Vimeo, etc... and watch these documentaries. This also is a huge benefit for the organizations they do work for. Watching a two or three minute video which explains everything the organization is doing is much more effective than just posting up posters around town and in magazines that don't really say was the organization does. With the video however, the viewer gets a visual, as well as an explanation and they also get time to develop and emotional bond with the subject matter.

This video in particular is about providing impoverished farmers with the resources to generate their own sustainable income. They not only provide these people with the the tools and seeds they need, but they also give them training, so that they have the skills needed in order to be successful farmers. I think that organizations like these are among the most effective because they target the individual, and teach the individual how they can learn to be self-reliant and sustainable, and thus become an invaluable asset to the community.

This video is in my opinion a very effective way in explaining the organization and their aims, as well as showing the positive repercussions of their efforts. Good Line's amazing storytelling and filmmaking abilities are so effective here because the viewer can really feel their passion and love for the people they are trying to help through these promotional videos. I would encourage everyone to check out their other videos on their site, to see some of the other work they have done. These artists are out in the world promoting great causes through filmmaking, which I assume is a goal we as film students all share.

Komaza- An overview from Good Line on Vimeo.

P4A (Project For Awesome) and the Vlogbrothers

Each December, usually the 17^th and 18^th for the past five years YouTube has been attempted to be taken over by an online community called the Nerdfighters.  This take over was started by the Vlogbrothers, John and Hank Green, when they decided that first year that they wanted to figure out a way to make YouTube no longer about cat videos but about trying to make the world a better place by decreasing what they called “world suck”.   Each year from that first year they were able to expand their deceasing of world suck with the help of people at YouTube and with the help of the community they have created from vlogging to each other and to the Nerdfighters.

(Click on the first few links to get an idea of what P4A is and who John and Hank are.  And the links at the bottom of the post are about P4A.  The YouTube page for 2011 and the website with info about P4A during 2011)

http://youtu.be/-6BgPJqAkP0

http://youtu.be/AiBPkBCL7vY

http://youtu.be/vgD1tVd9ubA

These two brothers started a project in 2007 with no idea of what would come out of vlogging each other every weekday for a year.  They didn’t know that they would have a way to branch out to more than 300 charities and bring the focus not to themselves but to the world and how it can be changed when a community comes together instead of trying to change the world on their own.

The community that the Vlogbrothers made is based upon awesome, their two rules to being apart of their community called Nerdfighteria is to 1) never be mean and 2) DFTBA (Don’t Forget To Be Awesome).   This community has done more than just brought about a way for YouTuber’s to expand their world outside of their computers, they created a place where all the other Nerdfighters care about each other and feel like they belong.  Which to me can be more meaningful than raising money because it’s given people hope that the world isn’t full of evil or mean people and things. But that there are people who feel the same as you do and want you around to share the awesomeness of being awesome.  DFTBA.

http://www.youtube.com/user/project4awesome/featured

http://www.projectforawesome.com/

The Joy of Subtlety

Often artists write stories without the intention of actively advocating a specific cause. However, no matter the intention, every artist's society, the events occurring during his or her lifetime, and his or her own social situation/life story, inevitably affects the type of work that artist will create. As a result, the work that appears to have been made purely from a desire to create suddenly becomes a social comment. By merely creating and naturally belonging to a society, the artist indirectly submits acts of civic participation, whether he or she accepts this perspective or not.

The reading seems to suggest that due to this fact, an artist must be knowledgeable about the social issues of the time. The reading also demands that the artist be responsible to his or her craft in order to maintain its credibilityt for future artists. This is all well and good, but it seemed to me that the reading chose not to address fiction as a means for social activism. I believe that I noticed this because subtle advocacy seems to resonate more with me than emotionally manipulative (which seems to be a trend in political or social campaigns) advertisements. As a counterexample, Jane Austen's work perpetually satirizes the artificiality of the English upper class and society's unjust treatment of women, but does so in an entertaining and moderately subtle way that allows for the exploration of other topics and themes as well. So, as hippy-ish as this may sound, I believe that an artist's role in society is merely to create. If the artist is passionate about promoting a cause, they will find a way to do so, and even if they aren't, their work will ultimately reflect the issues of the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVcQnyEIT8&list=FL-p8XXj5kQjdQc2qDXK0uvw&index=4&feature=plpp_video

This couple (obviously avid book lovers) decided to make a stop-motion video of books coming to life in the bookstore at night. While this narrative may not blatantly take a stand on a social cause, I believe there are some social implications when this story is analyzed in context with our society. We live in an age where the joy of books can easily be pushed aside and ignored. Many people do not enjoy reading and even more people do not have time to read in this increasingly busy world even if they wanted to. Indeed, with the creation of Nooks and Kindles, physical copies of books could easily become obsolete. This short film serves as a metaphor for the beauty book, reading, and literacy can bring into our lives. So essentially, this couple advocates literacy and takes a stand in this distracted world through a creative and unobtrusive medium. Ah, the joy of subtlety.

South Park

I think that an artist has the responsibility to take a stand on social issues and represent them through his art. Art needs substance, not just form, and that substance is created through the representation of ideals. I think TV shows can be great advocates for social issues. One example is South Park. Although many people just think it a crass cartoon, often its episodes are mimicries of social situations that show the creators point of view. It has taken a stance on issues such as the presidential elections, terrorism, religion, and many others. I’m not going to link to any clips for obvious reasons. One challenge south park faces it that its audience is pretty narrow, and because it is a cartoon most people don’t take it seriously. Because of certain laws it also has to use fake names and situations and only allude to its often thinly veiled metaphors.

Another example of a group using digital media for a cause is the movie Fearless. This movie is directed by Ronny Yu and produced in China. China, as a communist country, has strong control over what its people see and hear. This movie is one of my favorite martial arts movies (for the cinematography), but recently I watched it and realized that this movie could possibly be considered propaganda. In one of my books it says that propaganda films make their audience draw the conclusion that they want them to, and don’t really leave it open for any interpretation. This film does this in a way (and I only recently realized it). The movie details one man’s struggle and journey to discover himself. The end of the movie ties it all together and almost explicitly states that China needs to stand strong and united especially against the influences of western culture. Though the movie takes place decades ago, the film was made in 2006 and the idea that China is producing films that promote a united country (and a communist one) strikes me as obvious, and I feel cheated for not having recognized it sooner. This is even obvious in the trailer.

I think artists have a great responsibility to show their beliefs and make a point for change. They have powerful tools at their disposal and can unite their audiences and the people of their culture to help change their society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42NWMluhlfk

Taking a Stand

I believe that the role of an artist in society is to make people aware. Our job is to assist in the education of the ignorant, so that everyone is capable of making informed decisions. If everyone actually knew what they were doing and saying, the world would be a much more accepting place. Artists can make such a difference, especially because art can speak more directly to a person than words alone. At times it is challenging to represent others in the right way. Misinterpretation is a surprisingly easy thing for viewers, and this can make things frighteningly difficult for the artist. Most artists have a specific idea or action in mind that they’d like to convey, and it can be difficult to do perfectly. It’s hard to predict how people will react to something you create. Creating something that effectively informs others about a problem or a human being and calls someone to action can be one of the most rewarding feelings to an artist. This is why they continue to do what they do.

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook the other day and after watching it I spent a considerable amount of time just sitting and thinking. By making and posting this video in a public place like YouTube, this documentarian has called to action everyone who watches it. Even if it is just a cause for deep thought, as in my case, this artist has still caused something to happen. I think he had three different purposes in calling people to action. The first is to convince people to take a stand in the Gay Rights Movement, the second is to give gay people a sense of hope, and the third is a request for help in the actual making of the documentary. Never before have I seen a video that might possibly be capable of so strongly influencing different people to do different things.

LDS Philanthropies

A lot of times in school we are reminded and urged to participate in our community, voice our opinions, and take a stand. One way we can do that is through digital media. It’s incredible how quickly we can reach such a broad audience through things we post on the Internet. No amount of passing out fliers or attending city council meetings can measure up to a Youtube video that gets millions of views, or a blog that is read worldwide. Digital media can be a tool that we as artists can use to make a difference.

Artists have a unique role in society, I believe, and one that is very important. Artists can bring to our attention things that we might have otherwise ignored by presenting them in a way that is engaging, or shocking, or beautiful. Artists can make us feel a certain way and thus lead us to act on our feelings. The challenges come, however, when we recognize the heavy responsibility it is to act as an ambassador for someone who needs our help. If we are representing another person, group, or culture, we have to be careful to do so in a respectful and honest manner. If we are representing ourselves, we have to be willing to take the risk of being rejected by some, or ignored, or misunderstood.

One example of an organization that uses digital media to act for a cause is LDS Philanthropies. My grandpa actually works as communications manager in the department where they plan, produce, and distribute different types of digital media to encourage people to donate to their various causes. My grandpa has travelled all over the world and photographed different peoples and cultures, and his work is both beautiful and moving. Just by seeing the hope and light in the eyes of his subjects, I immediately felt like I wanted to help. The LDS Philanthropies website is full of videos, photographs, and articles that are inspiring and motivating.

http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/