Photo by Renoir Gaither via Flickr.Īrtists may reach the aesthetic without attaining coherence indeed, an element of their artistry is a respectful rebellion against coherence. Minneapolis street art created in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd. Activists committed to the creation of a more egalitarian society likewise take the (often broken) aspects of the world and imaginatively rearrange them into a new totality-with the intent of a totality that maximizes justice. As John Keats wrote in 1819, “Beauty is truth/truth is beauty/–that is all.” If America’s protestors are interested in justice, they are also interested in-perhaps subconsciously-beauty and therefore exhibit a commitment to a deeper truth than those who oppose such reformist efforts.

When attempting to capture a glimpse of beauty, artists pour much of their energy in coordinating, for instance, the colors in a painting, notes and instruments for symphony, or the word arrangements for a poem. This part-to-whole activity is not limited to artists it is central to all those who seek to utilize the imagination in bringing new life into existence. Professional intellectuals in pursuit of knowledge work in a similar mode they take isolated bits of data and organize them into a comprehensive synthesis. And within every major protest movement, including those currently roiling the U.S., artists have played a key role. Such performative activists, according to the authors of Aesthetics of Global Protest, “have been able to create an alternative space for people to engage with politics that is, in theory, more inclusive and participatory than traditional electoral politics.” And it is important to note that the artist is more than just one activist type among others. The artist-the artist-in-protest, if you will-is the distilled image of the inherent aesthetics of direct-action movements.Īn important element in the philosophy of beauty is the way in which artists arrange individual parts into a larger whole-a comprehensive totality where multiple meanings emerge following the aesthetic moment.

“I have long believed that a very great revolutionary is a great artist, and that he develops ideas, programs, etc, as Beethoven develops a movement.”Īrtists have consistently been society’s prophetic renegades, avant-garde visionaries calling new worlds into existence.

Jackson Spielvogel’s World History: Modern Times.

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