Projects tagged "Activates (people)"

Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
La Fiera en Sevilla
Practitioner:
Isaías Griñolo
Date:
Jan 1 2016
During the economic crisis of 2008, bankers in Spain took advantage of the economically disadvantaged, and the artwork La Fiera en Sevilla, or the Wild Animal in Sevilla in English, brings attention to this money-centric act from the bankers. La Fiera refers to the bankers at the time that used predatory methods in their actions to forcibly evict poor people from their houses.
Benjamin Lay spills blood at 1738 Quaker Meeting
Practitioner:
Benjamin Lay
Date:
Sep 1 1738
It was September 1738, and Benjamin Lay had walked 20 miles, subsisting on “acorns and peaches,” to reach the Quakers’ Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Beneath his overcoat he wore a military uniform and a sword — both anathema to Quaker teachings. He also carried a hollowed-out book with a secret compartment, into which he had tucked a tied-off animal bladder filled with bright red pokeberry juice.
Ghen Cô Vy / Corona Hand Washing Song
Practitioner:
Khac Hung, Min x Erik, Vietnam Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health
Date:
Mar 1 2020
'Jealousy Ms. Vy' is a creative project of the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health, in collaboration with musician Khac Hung, singer Min and singer Erik. Through this project, we look forward to empowering and trusting the community, so that we can join hands to combat COVID-19 (aka nCoV-2019).
Crack is Wack
Practitioner:
Keith Haring
Date:
Jun 27 1986
Without having been commissioned—or even given legal permission at all—Haring set out to create Crack Is Wack on the wall of an abandoned handball court in a park at 2nd Avenue and East 128th Street on June 27, 1986. Upon the completion of the mural, Haring was arrested by the New York City Police Department for vandalism of city property and faced potential jail time in addition to heavy fines.
I Matter Utah
Practitioner:
I Matter Utah
Date:
Jun 14 2022
Realizing the lack of a safe community within the Northern Utah Area, Sammy, a highschooler from NUAMES in Davis County, started his project “I Matter” with a series of interviews in which he found this sentiment echoed. That’s why Sammy created “I Matter”, I Matter is an organization just for Northern Utah Teens.
Tletl (Mexican Nahua Dance) Performance
Practitioner:
Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli
Date:
May 31 2020
The group known as Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli, which practices Mexican Nahua dance, song and drumming, is a frequent presence at Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Its dancers first took to the streets in solidarity with the movement after the death of Jamar Clark, who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police in 2015.
The Sea of Escape
Practitioner:
Qiong Zhang
Date:
Nov 19 2022
"I collected 83 images of disappeared women from Chinese social media. I printed them out, cut them, organized them, and made them into a tarot deck called "Missing Persons Notice.'"
Operation First Casualty (OFC)
Practitioner:
IVAW: Iraq Veterans Against the War
Date:
May 31 2007
Monday June 18, 2007 marked history with Operation First Casualty (OFC) – part IV, Chicago, Illinois. As IVAW members were coming into town, organizers were finishing last minute details. Participating IVAW members were from Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, DC and Indiana.
Soundsuits
Practitioner:
Nick Cave
Date:
May 3 1992
Nick Cave is an American fabric sculptor, performance artist, and dancer. He was born on February 4, 1959, in Fulton, Missouri. Currently, Cave lives in Chicago, Illinois, where he works at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as the director of the graduate fashion program.
With the Help of an Art Installation, Ukrainian Activists in NYC Canvass Voters for Support
Practitioner:
Ganna Smirnova, Vsevolod Myrnyi and Zhanna Galeyeva
Date:
Nov 4 2024
Four days before the U.S. presidential election, three Ukrainian activists gathered at a stranded fence in New York City’s East Village to hang an expansive information poster. “19546+ Ukrainian Children Abducted by Russia,” reads its headline in bold. From a black canvas, white letters jump out at the passersby, a haunting reminder of the toll the Russian invasion continues to inflict on Ukrainian families.
My vagina says, “I want freedom.”
Practitioner:
Beijing Foreign Studies University Students
Date:
Nov 12 2013
In November 2013, a group of 17 female students at Beijing Foreign Studies University sparked national debate when they staged a bold social media campaign in support of an upcoming performance of The Vagina Monologues, a feminist play by Eve Ensler.
Artists Tried to Activate Voters With Billboard Art. Did It Work?
Practitioner:
Hank Willis Thomas
Date:
Jan 13 2025
On Nov. 6, the day after the presidential election, the artist Hank Willis Thomas was at his studio in Brooklyn. His production assistants were poring over tables strewed with blobby red white and blue silk-screen prints of the words “Fragile/ Democracy / Handle With Care” in capital letters.
Creative Time NYC’s unique flag project
Practitioner:
Marilyn Minter
Date:
Jun 14 2017
The 14th day of June each year is celebrated as Flag Day, and in 2017 it was no different save for the fact that the project took center stage. The celebrations kicked off with hoisting the resist flag, a creation by Marilyn Minter on the rooftop of the 4th street headquarters of Creative Time.
César Chávez and the Migrants
Practitioner:
Teatro SEA
Date:
Jan 1 2023
The play celebrates the life and legacy of the Mexican-American labor activist César Chávez. His early life as well as his partnership with Dolores Huerta, activism with the National Farm Workers Association, the 1968 grape boycott, and his ongoing commitment to nonviolent civil rights work.
China’s Creative Acts of Protest: Memes, Puns and Blank Sheets of Paper
Practitioner:
People of China
Date:
Nov 28 2202
In Shanghai, a vigil grew into a street protest where many held blank sheets of white paper in a symbol of tacit defiance. In Beijing, students at Tsinghua University raised signs showing a math equation devised by the Russian physicist Alexander Friedmann, whose surname in Chinese is a homonym for “free man.”
Voices from the Conflict
Practitioner:
Benji Blatt, Aly Arkin
Date:
Dec 12 2023
Our NGO “Voices from the Conflict” seeks to open a conversation about the Israel-Palestine conflict through the lens of activist art. The history of the conflict dates back to the UN partition plan in 1947, followed by Israel’s independence in 1948. Since then, there have been several armed engagements between the two actors- causing massive civilian casualties and terrorism.
For Once, Don't Do It
Practitioner:
Nike
Date:
May 29 2020
Text by Seth Cohen - On Friday night, as U.S. television screens burned with images of peaceful protests turning violent, Nike released a new socially conscious ad calling on Americans to do something quite different than the brand’s usual call to “Just Do It.” Instead, one of the nation’s leading athletic apparel companies called on individuals to not turn their back on the painful issue of racism in the United States.
Pantomime for Climate CHange
Practitioner:
The Red Rebels
Date:
Apr 4 2023
Replete with an unmistakable look, intense silence, and mime-like moves, the Red Rebels are, quite intentionally, riveting. In the words of artist and activist Doug Francisco, founder of the Red Rebels Brigade: "We divert, distract, delight, and inspire the people who watch us."
Washing the Flag
Practitioner:
People
Date:
May 1 2000
“It might not seem that an act of public laundry could unsettle a president with a well-deserved reputation for inflexibility, corruption, and brutality. But mass washing ceremonies were a key element in getting rid of Peru’s unpopular president, Alberto Fujimori, after more than a decade in power.
Instantaneous ownership
Practitioner:
Zou Yaqi, China News
Date:
May 21 2021
"Why should I play a celebrity and live in Beijing for 21 days without spending money?" From May 1st to May 21st, 2021, I spent 21 days in Beijing without spending money, and I was as elegant as a celebrity. I recorded this behavior through video. Video "Instant Ownership" 28-minute graduation exhibition version of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (click to watch)
Coronavirus Halts Street Protests, but Climate Activists Have a Plan
Practitioner:
Fridays for Future, Greta Thunberg
Date:
Mar 19 2020
The coronavirus outbreak has prompted climate activists to abandon public demonstrations, one of their most powerful tools for raising public awareness, and shift to online protests. This week, for example, organizers of the Fridays for Future protests are advising people to stay off the streets and post photos and messages on social media in a wave of digital strikes.
Student flash mobs in Thailand
Practitioner:
students
Date:
Sep 20 2020
"Thai artists and art students are on the frontline of their country’s swelling pro-democracy movement, calling for reforms of Thailand’s military-backed government, and breaking both taboo and national law to criticise the nation’s monarchy.
Fashion Designers Join the Fight Against COVID-19 By Pivoting to Mask Production
Practitioner:
Fashion Designers, Christian Siriano, Christina Karin Monley, Luxury Fashion Houses and Factories
Date:
Mar 20 2020
Fashion designers from L.A. to Milan are picking up their shears in solidarity to do their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to at-risk patients and primary care providers.
Odes to Putin were Russian translations of Nazi verse
Practitioner:
Anonymous Russian pranksters
Date:
Jun 26 2024
Pranksters reveal odes to Putin were Russian translations of Nazi verse
"Gold Rice" Thrown into the Huangpu River
Practitioner:
Yexin Yang
Date:
Oct 17 2021
By throwing away 1,000 pure gold rice grains into a river, a Chinese artist, who wanted to raise public awareness about food waste, found his behavior was not well received by the general public who called the performance "fake art and a waste of money."

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