The Art of Protest. Protest Art and Political Conflict in Contemporary America 4219-SB149

Throughout the semester, we will engage with theoretical texts that ground our understanding of the relationship between art and politics. We will read and discuss works by thinkers such as Walter Benjamin, whose work examines how art’s reproducibility can democratize culture and fuel political movements; Donatella della Porta’s approach to symbolic dimensions of social movements; and Steven Duncombe, whose Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy explores how art and spectacle can re-energize political activism. These theoretical frameworks will provide students with the tools to analyze how art functions as a form of resistance, a means of communication, and a catalyst for social change.

In addition to theoretical readings, the course will focus on the works of artists and activists who have used their creative practices to challenge power structures and advocate for social justice. T.V. Reed’s book The Art of Protest: Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Present (2019) will be a useful guide in navigating the history of the US social movements’ use of various forms of artistic expressions. We will examine music as an important medium for the Civil Rights movement, the role of poetry and visual arts in the radical feminist movement, and the extensive use of graphic art in ACT UP mobilization. We will also discuss the works of artists who offer political critique such as Barbara Kruger, whose bold, text-based works interrogating consumer culture, gender, and power, can serve as a case study in how art can disrupt dominant ideologies and provoke critical reflection. Another case is Guerrilla Girls, a feminist collective known for their use of humor, statistics, and guerrilla marketing to expose gender and racial inequality in the art world, which will offer insights into how collective action and anonymity can amplify political messages. We will also explore artistic strategies to criticize American consumerism and militarism though the subversive street art of Banksy and the works of Andy Warhol, whose engagement with celebrity culture, consumerism, and mass media reveals the complex ways art can both critique and perpetuate societal norms.

Seminars will focus on:
1. Introduction to the theories of power and social change: how social movements emerge and function?
2. Understanding the role of art in politics: mass society, representation, identity, mobilization.
3. The power of music: the case of African American Civil Rights Movement and contemporary protest songs.
4. The role of art in contemporary feminist activism: from poetry readings, to Guerrilla Girls to Lady Gaga.
5. The art of dying and living: ACT UP and contemporary queer movement’s use of artistic expressions
6. Against capitalism: culture jamming from Andy Warhol to Adbusters and Banksy

Course coordinators

Elżbieta Bekiesza-Korolczuk

Type of course

elective courses

Mode

Blended learning
Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

Celem kursu jest wprowadzenie osób studenckich w kluczowe konflikty polityczne i społeczne kształtujące współczesną Amerykę przez pryzmat sztuki protestu. Choć sztuka jest często postrzegana jako dziedzina indywidualnej ekspresji, oderwana od przyziemnego i kontrowersyjnego świata debaty politycznej, w rzeczywistości jest jednym z najpotężniejszych mediów, za pośrednictwem których wyrażane są roszczenia polityczne, emocje i opór. Sztuka nie tylko odzwierciedla zmagania polityczne; ona aktywnie je kształtuje, kwestionując dominujące narracje, wzmacniając głosy marginalizowanych i prowokując dyskurs publiczny. Kurs ten zgłębi, jak sztuka wizualna, performans, graffiti i inne formy twórcze służą jako narzędzia krytyki politycznej, mobilizacji i transformacji społecznej.

Learning outcomes

KNOWLEDGE:
- Knows and understands the history of social movements in the contemporary United States;
- Knows and understands key concepts used in contemporary debates about the role of art in social movements;
- Understands the cultural and historical context in which these debates emerged.

SKILLS:
- Can critically analyze social movements' forms of communication;
- Can locate the most important areas of critique of contemporary American society;
- Can formulate opinions on the communication strategies of social movements.

COMPETENCIES:
- Is open to conflicting opinions regarding the strategic value of various strategies used by social movements;
- Can engage in debate;
- Can formulate and defend one's opinion while respecting other views.

Assessment criteria

Assessment methods and criteria:
1. In-class activity – 20%
2. Group project and presentation (15-20 min) completed in groups of 2-3 people – 80%. Projects should address topics covered in class, but rather than referencing theoretical texts, they can take one of two forms.

Form 1) presentation of a selected issue based on a mini-case study, e.g., a) analysis of cultural texts (books, TV series, films) that address the topics discussed in class; b) analysis of the activities and strategies of specific movement, group or artists; c) analysis of socio-cultural changes triggered by activism.

The second form 2) is an artistic project/artistic statement in the form of, for example, a song with a music video, a zine, a short documentary film or a website accessible to the Internet.

Depending on the size of the group, presentations can be made by 2-3 people, highlighting the contributions of each participant. Projects can be multimedia in nature (video, podcast). Project topics can be discussed (and even required) via email. Presentations are scheduled for the last three classes.

Artificial intelligence systems may be used to gather and verify information needed for presentations and projects, but not for writing texts or generating presentation content. It is necessary to indicate whether and how AI was used.

Practical placement

Bibliography

Benjamin, Walter, 1935. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, in: Illuminations, edited by Hannah Arendt, translated by Harry Zohn, New York: Schocken Books (1969).
della Porta, D., & Diani, M. (2020). Social Movements: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. (chapter 3. The Symbolic dimension of Collective Action, pp. 64-88).
Dery, M. (2017). Culture Jamming: Activism and the Art of Cultural Resistance (M. DeLaure & M. Fink, Eds). NYU Press (Chapter 1 and 9).
Leng, K. (2020). Art, Humor, and Activism: The Sardonic, Sustaining Feminism of the Guerrilla Girls, 1985–2000. Journal of Women’s History, 32(4), 110–134. https://doi.org/10.1353/jowh.2020.0042
Mathieu, L., & Balasinski, J. (2022). Artistic Currents and Milieus and Social Movements. In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements (pp. 1–4). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm010.pub2
Reed, T. V. (2019). The Art of Protest: Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Present. University Of Minnesota Press (Introduction and Chapters 1, 3 and 7)
YouTube video on Walter Benjamin: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction https://youtu.be/blq9sCIyXgA?si=UeZ2nXgR6keNq8_h
Documentary: Guttentag, B., & Sturman, D. (Directors). (2009). Prime Video: Soundtrack for a Revolution [Video recording]. AMC. https://www.primevideo.com/-/pl/detail/0QA5DGV6ZIE2HAV89LSZ0DIEUW
Documentary: Sharpe, J. (Director). (2001). Culture Jam: Hijacking Commercial Culture. Vimeo.