Projects tagged "Does nothing (at all)"

Doesn't really have an impact, beyond possibly expressing the artist-activist's dissatisfaction with the world.

Zhang Donghui, a young artist, was detained for more than three months and had to pay 3,995 yuan in compensation for writing the words "Three years, I have become numb."
Practitioner:
Zhang Donghui
Date:
Aug 17 2022
Zhang Donghui, born in 1992, is a native of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China. He graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2017. He has been living and working as a professional artist in Beijing since then.
Augmented reality project puts monumental public art at New Yorkers’ fingertips
Practitioner:
Kinfolk
Date:
Nov 29 2017
Digital art platform Kinfolk has launched its New York City-wide participatory exhibition Signature Series, the initiative’s largest public endeavour to date. The project places newly created augmented reality (AR) monuments by four New York artists—Pamela Council, Derrick Adams, Tourmaline and Hank Willis Thomas—into designated public spaces across the city.
untitled subway graffiti
Practitioner:
Unknown
Date:
Feb 9 2025
alternating yellow and white chalk on black blank subway advertisement spaces. "NO ONE VOTED FOR ELON" "RISE AND RESIST" "RESISTANCE IS CONTAGIOUS" "WHO WILL SAVE US? WE WILL SAVE US" found on the uptown C train platform at 50th street station. found on february 9, 2025.
‘Not Yours’
Practitioner:
Beata Kruszynski
Date:
May 1 0000
“My image was inspired by the #MeToo Revolution, my personal experiences with the male gaze and a healthy amount of frustration and repulsion. What I hope to convey in this image is the sense of verbal, physical and energetic male ownership that is placed on women in society.” — Beata Kruszynski is a freelance illustrator and art teacher in Ontario, Canada.
Activists Pour Porridge and Spray Soup on Queen Victoria Sculptures in Glasgow to Protest Cost of Living
Practitioner:
This Is Rigged
Date:
Mar 3 2024
Activists poured porridge and jam on a marble bust of Queen Victoria and sprayed fire extinguishers filled with soup onto a large bronze statue of the monarch during two recent protests in Glasgow, Scotland. The group, called This Is Rigged, claimed responsibility for the two protests, which took place inside the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum at noon on March 3 and at George Square at 10:45 am local time on March 4.
Zaria Forman Artistic Practice
Practitioner:
Zaria Forman
Date:
Jan 1 2019
TED TALK: I consider it my life's mission to convey the urgency of climate change through my work. I've traveled north to the Arctic to the capture the unfolding story of polar melt, and south to the Equator to document the subsequent rising seas. Most recently, I visited the icy coast of Greenland and the low-lying islands of the Maldives, connecting two seemingly disparate but equally endangered parts of our planet.
The Mending Project
Practitioner:
Beili Liu
Date:
Mar 3 2011
Imagine walking into a silent room where a woman is mending. Now imagine that she's sitting underneath 1,500 pairs of sharp Chinese scissors that are suspended from the ceiling, precariously pointed downwards. This was the idea behind The Mending Project by Beili Liu.
Bed-Stuy Fish Pond
Practitioner:
Hajj Lovick
Date:
Jul 30 2024
The Bed-Stuy Aquarium (also known as the Hancock Street Bed-Stuy Aquarium) is a makeshift goldfish pond located on a sidewalk in the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City. The pond, originally formed by a puddle from a leaky fire hydrant, garnered attention from locals and the press beginning at the time of its creation in August 2024.
Activists Take to Guggenheim Museum to Denounce Israeli Airstrikes
Practitioner:
Anonymous Artists/Activists
Date:
Nov 11 2023
The Guggenheim Museum in New York City temporarily closed off its entrance on Saturday afternoon, November 11, after eight artists and cultural workers took to the institution’s iconic spiral ramp to denounce the Israeli military’s ongoing killing of Palestinian children in Gaza.
“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.
Climate Protestor Smears Pink Paint on Tom Thomson Painting at National Gallery of Canada
Practitioner:
On2Ottawa
Date:
Aug 29 2023
A climate activist smeared pink paint on a Tom Thomson artwork at the National Gallery of Canada as part of activities this week drawing attention to demands for a national firefighting service. A video uploaded to Facebook by the group On2Ottawa appears to show Kaleb Suedfeld, 28, splashing paint onto Thomson’s 1915 landscape Northern River, kneeling and gluing his hand onto the floor before pulling a written speech from his pocket.
Marcela Cantuária: The South American Dream
Practitioner:
Marcela Cantuária
Date:
Mar 23 2023
The work of Marcela Cantuária (b. 1991, Rio de Janeiro; lives in Rio de Janeiro) often portrays female figures who navigate regional, international, and social boundaries. Often highlighting symbols from tarot and astrology as well as themes that reflect political and environmental activism in Latin America, she weaves narratives of social spheres, political associations, and ethereal wishes.
Ai Weiwei’s Colored Vases: Clever Artwork Or Vandalism?
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Jan 1 2006
Exhibition visitors have expressed feelings of uneasiness or even pain and nostalgia when seeing Colored Vases by Ai Weiwei1. The 51 vases that make up the artwork are originally treasures from the Neolithic Age (5000–3000 BCE) and the artist has dunked them in common industrial paint. Why did Ai Weiwei do it?
The Wisdom of the Universe
Practitioner:
Christi Belcourt
Date:
Jan 1 2014
The Wisdom of the Universe was painted in 2014 by Métis artist, author, and activist Christi Belcourt. Based in Northeastern Ontario, Belcourt is best known for her large-scale acrylic paintings — like this one — that use hundreds of thousands of tiny dots to simulate Métis beadwork. At the Art Gallery of Ontario, where The Wisdom of the Universe lives, the painting has become a popular sight.
Study of Perspective (& Stools)
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Jan 1 2014
The son of an exiled political dissident, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei’s work is inherently political. Since 1995 Ai Weiwei has been traveling the world, photographing himself flipping off iconic monuments of power in his Study of Perspective series.
Anti-Trump protesters lay ‘body bags’ outside one of his New Jersey golf clubs
Practitioner:
Refuse Fascism Philly
Date:
Apr 4 2020
Social distancing guidelines didn’t stop members of Refuse Fascism Philly from criticizing President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic on Saturday. Rather than march as a crowd through Center City, a handful of protesters from the group, which has repeatedly called for Trump’s removal, drove their cars through Philadelphia before arriving at the Trump National Golf Club in Pine Hill, N.J.
Dude Protests with a Sign
Practitioner:
Seth Phillips
Date:
Feb 8 2020
From an article in BoredPanda: "If you’ve ever felt like your voice and opinion doesn’t matter in the vast world, then Seth is here to prove you wrong. This New Yorker runs the ‘Dude With Sign’ Instagram account where he uploads photos of himself protesting the strangest, weirdest, most random things. And the best thing is, we can relate to most of what he’s written on his signs.
Congo Man Sets Himself Ablaze for Peace
Practitioner:
Unidentified Man
Date:
Nov 8 2023
A video that was first posted on X (formerly Twitter) on November 8, of a Congolese man setting himself on fire has gone viral. The gruesome clip has started a discussion on whether a genocide is occurring in the DRC and is being ignored by both Africa and the rest of the world.
El Anatsui’s Artistic Practice
Practitioner:
El Anatsui
Date:
Jan 1 2020
DOHA — In an interview with the Paris Review in 1993, the late Toni Morrison once said, I think of beauty as an absolute necessity. I don’t think it’s a privilege or an indulgence. It’s not even a quest. I think it’s almost like knowledge, which is to say it’s what we were born for.
Spotify removes Neil Young's music after he objects to Joe Rogan's podcast
Practitioner:
Neil Young
Date:
Jan 27 2022
Spotify has removed famed singer-songwriter Neil Young's recordings from its streaming platform.
Fit For Work
Practitioner:
Void One
Date:
Jan 1 2018
Graffiti art is particularly viewed as a powerful form of social protest, and the (illegal) act of defacing can be as important as the message itself. Artist Void One has been arrested on numerous occasions for his politically-charged interventions. “I didn’t set out to make political art but art is a platform where I can vent my frustrations” – Void One.
The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons
Practitioner:
Jacques-Louis David
Date:
Jan 1 1787
Jacques-Louis David was an active member of the French Revolution, and his works often depicted his political affiliations. David’s painting The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons portrays the scene of Brutus, an important figure of the Roman Republic, reacting to the death of his sons. Since they wanted to overthrow the government and restore the monarchy, Brutus ordered their death.
Fanism - Tallahassee Native John Gertomo's Flock
Practitioner:
Anonymous Users
Date:
Jun 1 2012
On a now defunct MMO, users rallied together under a fake religion to protest religious groups proselytizing on the messageboards.
Italian climate change protesters turn Venice's Grand Canal green
Practitioner:
Extinction Rebellion group
Date:
Dec 9 2023
Italian environmentalists used a dye to turn Venice's Grand Canal green on Saturday in protest at what they said was a lack of progress at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. The protesters from the Extinction Rebellion group, dangling from the Rialto Bridge over the canal with the aid of climbing ropes, also displayed a banner that read: "COP28: While the government talks, we are hanging by a thread."
My Calling (Card) #1 Meta-Performance (1987-88; 00:58:00)
Practitioner:
Adrian Piper
Date:
Jan 30 1987
Adrian Piper created 'calling cards' that can stand alone as individual works, but Piper also used them in performances.

Pages