Projects tagged "Activates (people)"

Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
Waste Land Project
Practitioner:
Vik Muniz
Date:
Feb 5 2008
The project involved creating portraits of garbage pickers from the Jardim Gramacho landfill near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using materials found in the landfill itself. Muniz worked with the garbage pickers to create the portraits, which were then photographed and exhibited in galleries around the world. The project aimed to raise awareness of the plight of the garbage pickers and the environmental issues associated with landfill waste.
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Chinese artist speaks out against zero-Covid policy by wearing 27 hazmat suits in Times Square
Practitioner:
Zhisheng Wu
Date:
Oct 18 2022
On Sunday morning, a puffy, Michelin Man-like figure trudged through Times Square in New York, panting from the exertion of trying to move while wearing 27 hazmat suits. Inside the white cocoon was Zhisheng Wu, a Chinese artist who staged the street performance to criticize China’s unrelenting zero-Covid policy.
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The vital work of women street photographers
Practitioner:
Gulnara Samoilova
Date:
Mar 16 2021
In 2016, photojournalist Gulnara Samoilova was running a successful wedding photography business. Her diverse portfolio of work spans two decades — with images in the permanent collections of The New York Public Library, 9/11 Memorial Museum and Houston Museum of Fine Arts — but weddings had become her staple business. By the year's end, she'd decided to pack it in.
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Your body is a battleground
Practitioner:
Barbara Kruger
Date:
Apr 9 1989
Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground) is an iconic 1989 silkscreen portrait made by artist, feminist and activist Barbara Kruger . Though the poster was meant for the pro-choice march on April 9th, 1989, in DC, the portrait is now used mainly to voice the artist’s own opinion about gender inequality. The piece is much more relevant in today’s society, where it controls the way we view and treat women’s bodies.
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"We stand in solidarity"-Asian American Artist Confront Racism
Practitioner:
Mike Keo, Monyee Chau, Godzilla: Asian American Art Network
Date:
Apr 2 2020
Unleashed by anxiety over the pandemic, the nationwide rise in anti-Asian hate has served as a call to action for many Asian American artists to take a stand: To actively challenge the historic negative stereotype of the vice- and disease-ridden Yellow Peril; to dismantle the pernicious and divisive myth of the model minority that pits achievements by Asian Americas as judgements against other communities of color; and to advocate for social justice, eq
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Where the Tides Ebb and Flow
Practitioner:
Pedro Marzorati
Date:
Oct 12 2015
As you walk through Paris and especially in the Montsouris Park, one cannot help but notice the blue busts that appear to be rising from under the surface of the water. This artwork is known as Where the Tides Ebb and Flow created by Pedro Marzorati , an Argentinian artist.
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Zero Waste Day Shines a light on fashion and textiles
Practitioner:
United Nations Environment Programme
Date:
Apr 4 2025
Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide marked the International Day of Zero Waste, which spotlighted solutions to the mounting environmental and social problems caused by the fashion and textile sector.
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Beijing Sitong Bridge protest
Practitioner:
Peng Lifa
Date:
Oct 13 2022
The Beijing Sitong Bridge protest was a protest in China during the prelude to the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
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Climate Name Change
Practitioner:
Barton Graf Agency
Date:
Sep 1 2014
To bring attention to the widespread apathy toward climate change, nonprofit group 350action and agency Barton F. Graf 9000 got a little personal. Tapping into the meteorological legacy of naming hurricanes after people–thereby marring the good names of unsuspecting Sandys, Irenes and Katrinas everywhere–“Climate Name Change” told the same storm story, but subbed in the name of prominent politicians who refuse to acknowledge climate change.
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Viral Trans Uplifting Art & Apparel
Practitioner:
Meg, @megemikoarat
Date:
May 13 2021
By going viral for the fashionable and aesthetically appeasing art for Trans lives, she has developed a new way to advocate for this cause while simultaneously growing her business. By starting by documenting their journey to living their most authentic life on youtube, they have gravitated to TikTok where they have found particular success in spreading awareness through their art and apparel.
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Shaming criminals in Argentina : "los escraches"
Practitioner:
HIJOS activist group and other argentinian activists
Date:
Jun 1 1995
Faced with a lack of prosecution of those accused of crimes against humanity committed during Argentina’s military dictatorship, family members and descendants of the country’s estimated 30,000 disappeared took action.
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Ice Watch
Practitioner:
Olafur Eliasson
Date:
Dec 11 2018
Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has extracted 30 blocks of glacial ice from the waters surrounding Greenland and placed them in public spaces across London, where they will be left to melt. Called Ice Watch, the temporary installation is meant to serve as a visual reminder of the impact of climate change on the environment.
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Silence = Death
Practitioner:
Avram Finkelstein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Lione and Jorge Socarrás
Date:
Apr 3 1987
This is a prime example of the marriage of art and activism. The Silence = Death poster is simple but extremely powerful representation of the obstacles the AIDS movement was facing (suppression of gay people + their problems, lack of awareness surrounding the pandemic).
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Dance for George
Practitioner:
Sheen Jamaal, Alison Bedell
Date:
Jun 7 2020
When dancer Sheen Jamaal saw a video of protestors doing the Cupid Shuffle in New Jersey, inspiration struck to do something similar in New York. He immediately called his friend and collaborator Allison “Buttons” Bedell, and the seed for the Dance For George protest was planted.
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Documentary ‘Softie’ and the bear pit of Kenyan politics
Practitioner:
Sam Soko, Boniface Mwangi
Date:
Nov 2 2020
Activist Boniface Mwangi on confronting corruption in his homeland, and director Sam Soko on recording his campaign Kenyan director Sam Soko’s debut documentary feature, Softie, opens with the film’s protagonist, Boniface Mwangi, sourcing 1,000 litres of pigs’ blood. “I’ve found a van for you. When do you want it? When are you getting the blood?” Mwangi asks.
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Kind of Blue
Practitioner:
Jenny Holzer
Date:
Mar 2 2012
Jenny Holzer is known for her art relating to truisms. Her work has revolved around truisms and finding an artistic way to display them. Kind of Blue is another work comprising different aphorisms and truisms. It combines digital technology, reflections, and a very blue theme. Text-based art is Holzer’s specialty, and she works with it along with LED, Parking meters, and billboards .
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In Tamir Rice's death, artists found inspiration to carry on his legacy
Practitioner:
Cleveland Museum of Art
Date:
Jun 25 2016
Samaria Rice, left, and Terrence Spivey welcome the crowd at the Tamir Rice Sweet 16 event to raise funds for a new youth oriented cultural center Thursday, June 14th, 2018, at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Tim Harrison/Special to The Plain Dealer Inspired to carry on Tamir's legacy
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How Keith Haring Made Uncomfortable Topics More Digestible
Practitioner:
Keith Haring's Dogs - Gylian Amdur, Kiera Farley, Macy Katz, Jocelyn Penate, and Rachel Nguyen
Date:
Feb 6 2023
Keith Haring is known to be one of the biggest artists raising awareness for HIV and AIDS, considering he had also passed away from HIV. Starting his career covering ads with spray paint and chalk in subway stations in New York City, his work started trending and he became an activist for this cause.
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The Harlem Festival of Culture
Practitioner:
Tony Cornelius, HFC
Date:
Jul 28 2023
The Harlem Festival of Culture not only pays homage to the past but also envisions a brighter future. It serves as a platform to showcase the rich diversity and dynamism of Harlem's artistic community, while also acting as a catalyst for social change and community empowerment. The festival boasts a lineup of artists from various genres and backgrounds, including jazz, soul, hip-hop, gospel, blues, rock, Latin, and Afrobeat.
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All Power to All People
Practitioner:
Hank Willis Thomas
Date:
Sep 1 2017
Located in Thomas Paine Plaza, across the street from City Hall, Hank Willis Thomas’s All Power to All People was a public art intervention that dealt with racial identity and representation in Philadelphia.
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Giving the World a Middle Finger
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Jan 1 2005
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and activist. He has been vocal and openly critical of the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and human rights. His work has captured global attention and served to bring attention to social injustices, human rights violations and systemic violence. Ai never shies away from saying what he truly feels and he encourages people to state exactly what they want.
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CLIMAVORE: environmental restoration through artistic practices
Practitioner:
Cooking Sections
Date:
Mar 1 2020
In 2016 an eye-catching sparrow was spotted in Scotland. The bird had ingested feed pellets from a nearby salmon farm, turning its feathers pink. Cramped in underwater feedlots, farmed salmon have no access to the prey that colour their flesh in the wild. Instead, they are fed artificial colourants mixed with supplements, drugs, and hormones, causing them to relentlessly produce the additive-filled flesh that fills supermarket shelves.
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Land O Rape Culture Stickers Replace Land O Lakes Butter Packaging
Practitioner:
Recycled Propaganda
Date:
Feb 4 2018
Stickers imitating the Land O Lakes Butter packaging are being placed in grocery stores over the original packaging. The packaging has been altered to say "Land O Rape - Culture" by street artist Recycled Propaganda.
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Dirty Money in Art & Big Pharma
Practitioner:
Nan Goldin & P.A.I.N.
Date:
Jul 20 2018
Between 1995 and 2017 the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin brought in $35 billion USD in revenue for Purdue Pharma, most of which went directly into the hands of the Sackler family.
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China urges Japan to treat "comfort women" issue in honest, responsible manner
Practitioner:
Xinhua Net
Date:
Jun 29 2021
Photo taken on Oct. 15, 2020 shows a "comfort women" statue in Berlin, capital of Germany. The statue was built to commemorate the more than 200,000 girls and women from 14 countries and regions, so-called "comfort women," who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese military during World War II. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
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