Emotion In Activist Art

If we were to base the quality of activist art on realization of beauty, sentiments of pleasure, or expression of emotion, activist art should still be able to carry itself with confidence amidst functionless art. Activist art radiates beauty in what it accomplishes. There is beauty in virtuous actions, kindness, and modification. With the beauty of kindness and help, activist art brings a certain heartwarming pleasure to an audience. And these are certainly not devoid of any expression of human emotion, quite the contrary. If anything, activist art holds the most power to conjure certain emotions within the minds of individuals. If one were to look at a Monet, one may see beauty in the painting and feel pleasure from this beauty, but can these sentiments truly compare to an artwork that is working to actively change the world for the better? Emotions and beauty in activist art are simply amplified when compared to other artworks because of their immense power to inspire and encourage innovation and change in support of an important cause. For critics to argue that activist art is lacking in beauty, pleasure, or even emotion, is a severe understatement …show more content…
Aestheticists, like Gautier, argue one cannot name something art for anything besides its aesthetic qualities, but Marxists believe that without serving a social function, it cannot be art. If we were to believe that art was devoid of social impact we would need to believe that “the artist is completely alienated or separated from society”. However attractive the notion of being separated from society may be to artists and aestheticists, art is not created within a vacuum devoid of a social atmosphere. Marxists insist, “an artwork’s real value depends on its function in a social setting”. Lenin paved the way for this Marxist theory with his literary