Projects tagged "Amplifies (issue or campaign)"

Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign.  Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.

Mother's Power
Practitioner:
Moms
Date:
Jul 25 2020
When mothers take to the streets — particularly those from privileged groups — governments take note. The “wall of moms” in Portland has taken up the cause against police violence.
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.
The Great Migration Series
Practitioner:
Jacob Lawrence
Date:
May 12 1941
National Public Radio (NPR): There's no historical marker outside Jacob Lawrence's childhood home in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. But Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has an idea of what it might say: "Here lived one of the 20th century's most influential visual artists, a man named Jacob Lawrence, who was a child of southern migrants."
The Earth is Bleeding
Practitioner:
Shu Yong
Date:
Nov 4 1998
Shu Yong is an artist who has been passionate about environmental protection in recent years. "The Earth Is Bleeding" was created in 1998. The creation was carried out in a studio of more than ten square meters.
STICK IT TO 'EM!
Practitioner:
@stickerit2em
Date:
Feb 7 2021
#stickit2em is an all-inclusive, anti-capitalist, & pro-planet justice movement, using the clever medium of stickers!
untitled (Long Live the Real King)
Practitioner:
Unknown
Date:
Feb 24 2025
An A.I. generated video of Donald Trump sucking Elon Musk's toes was broadcast at the Department of Housing and Development headquarters in DC in February of 2025. As an actual art piece, we can debate if the video itself is art. However, the caption, subject matter of the fake video, and chosen location to broadcast is definitely a strategic work of creative activism. From the New York Times:
“Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)
Practitioner:
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Date:
Jan 24 1991
Felix Gonzalez-Torres produced meaningful and restrained sculptural forms out of common materials. “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) consists of an ideal weight of 175 pounds of shiny, commercially distributed candy. The work’s physical form and scale change with each display, affected by its placement in the gallery as well as audience interactions.
Russians Launch Mass Virtual Protests Using SatNav Application
Practitioner:
Yandex.Navigator
Date:
Apr 20 2020
Russia is the midst of a strict COVID-19 lockdown. Although protesters cannot take to the streets, they are still holding mass demonstrations — digitally.
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.
Break Down
Practitioner:
Michael Landy
Date:
Feb 11 2001
Michael Landy made an inventory of every single thing he owned: every item of furniture, every book, every work of art, every article of clothing and one Saab car. Cataloguing all his possessions took a year to complete and the final list comprised 7,227 items.
Greta Thunberg launches video of family walking around burning house calling for action on climate change
Practitioner:
Fridays for Future
Date:
Apr 21 2020
Greta Thunberg has launched a campaign video of a housing burning to the ground as she calls for more action on climate change. The shocking clip shows a family waking up, having breakfast and talking as their home is engulfed by flames and clouds of smoke. The video was released by the Swedish climate activist's Fridays for Future, which has partnered with LA-based creative agency FF.
Fighting Viral Hate With a Hashtag
Practitioner:
Diane Phelan
Date:
Mar 21 2020
Grandmas diving for seafood while immigrants wrestle with identity. Scrambling for self-worth in the face of suicide. Rock music in the face of fear. A noir murder mystery. Musings on death.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Practitioner:
Prophet Bobby Henderson
Date:
Jun 10 2005
In the mid early 2000s, religious advocates tried a new strategy: promoting the theory of “intelligent design” to be taught in schools. As the Kansas School Board considered the argument, Prophet Bobby Henderson saw an opportunity. His now famous, “Open Letter to the Kansas School Board” began:
Gray Area
Practitioner:
Gray Area
Date:
Sep 17 2018
Being a Kuwaiti citizen makes you feel like you belong to Kuwait, as nationality is a legal relationship between a person and a state. But what if you are a “halfie” and are finding it hard to answer the question “Where are you from?” Those whose fathers are Kuwaiti are automatically considered Kuwaitis but those whose moms are Kuwaiti and fathers are not, they are not granted the nationality, even if they are born here.
"Printing Lost Culture of Ukraine" and "The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Brooklyn Apartment"
Practitioner:
Dmitry Borshch
Date:
Nov 13 2023
Both shows are supported by funds from New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and Materials for the Arts (MFTA). "Printing Lost Culture of Ukraine" November 13 – December 15, 2023 Monday – Friday, 10 am – 7 pm, free admission Ukraine House New York, 360 Merrick Road, 3rd Floor, Lynbrook, NY 11563
Washington, DC climate protesters drag paint on glass cover of art sculpture
Practitioner:
Declare Emergency
Date:
Apr 27 2023
Climate protesters in Washington, D.C. were handcuffed on Thursday after they dragged paint on a glass cover protecting an art sculpture. The incident happened at the National Gallery of Art by the activism group Declare Emergency in an attempt to bring attention to climate change, according to the Washington Post.
Global Jars of Joy
Practitioner:
The Joy Switchboard
Date:
Apr 25 2021
Our project aims to show people that joy can be an act of resistance and resilience in the face of global justice issues when harnessed in the right way. The sharing of joy can also act as a connector in a society that continues to grow more polarised through the division of social media and mainstream media.
Violence Against Women Art Map
Practitioner:
Lauren Stetz, Ph.D.
Date:
Jul 22 2021
The Violence Against Women (VAW) Art Map was conceptualized in the fall of 2018, in the wake of the #MeToo movement by Dr. Lauren Stetz, as part of her doctoral research in Art Education with a minor in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Penn State University.
Turning powerful stats into art
Practitioner:
Chris Jordan
Date:
Jan 1 2008
Artist Chris Jordan shows us an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. His supersized images picture some almost unimaginable statistics -- like the astonishing number of paper cups we use every single day. https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_jordan_turning_powerful_stats_into_art?r...
Mika Rottenberg: Cosmic Generator
Practitioner:
Mika Rottenberg
Date:
Jan 1 2017
Cosmic Generator presents a network of characters working in nonsensical, and at times absurd, economies. Artist Mika Rottenberg uses footage from actual discount dollar stores in Calexico, CA; Mexicali, Mexico; and Yiwu, China to recreate the imaginary “life” of a product, from its production in the factory to the moment it is sold.
Orca whale light/drone performance in Russia
Practitioner:
Greenpeace
Date:
Feb 17 2023
A performance in support of a bill banning the catch of cetaceans for cultural and educational purposes in Russia. The bill was supposed to pass readings in the lower house of parliament but unfortunately it was postponed; this activity is meant to help generate support for it to pass. The action was timed to coincide with the World Whale and Dolphin Day (Feb 19).
Ice Sculpture Steals Show at U.K. Climate Debate
Practitioner:
Channel 4
Date:
Nov 28 2019
Five leaders of British political parties called for dramatic action to confront climate change in a televised debate on Thursday, just two weeks before the country’s general election. A melting ice sculpture stole the show.
Anti-Abortion ‘Magical Birth Canal’ Videos
Practitioner:
Laura Klassen, CHOICE42
Date:
Jun 2 2018
This Anti-Abortion Influencer Is Using ‘Magical Birth Canal’ Videos to Supercharge the Movement Laura Klassen is using props, satire, and a pink wig to pioneer a young and edgy approach to anti-abortion messaging in Canada. By Valerie Kipnis and Elizabeth Landers May 4 2020, 12:45pm
Mainstream Media Is Blowing Its Coverage Of Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test
Practitioner:
Elizabeth Warren, Prominent Tribal Leaders, Donald Trump.
Date:
Jan 4 2019
WASHINGTON ― Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was positioned to make a strong bid for president in 2020, but she infuriated tribal leaders by releasing the results of a DNA test to prove her Native ancestry and now her future is unclear.
50 States, 50 Billboards
Practitioner:
For Freedoms and Kickstarter
Date:
May 1 2018
In 2018, For Freedoms commissioned billboards by artists across America ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

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