Many artists approach social issues, the environment, and/or politics not only as themes to explore but also areas to effect change, which has implications for the role of the artist in society.
We asked a group of artists in different disciplines, How do social, environmental, and political issues impact your work and role as an artist?
Raul Gonzalez, visual artist
When I first came to the Boston area twelve years ago I immediately began to search for places where I felt I could participate. I found friends working in music, comic books, gallery artists, art directors, writers, future curators, basically young kids who in time began to make strides in the area. I worked as an artist who would draw fliers, illustrate books, participate in coffee shop shows and eventually this somehow lead to gallery and museum exhibitions. Participation in the social lead to so many opportunities that I never thought I would or could be a part of.
My work is a reflection of the world that I actively participate in, whether it’s something close to home or news and events from afar. The series “Lookum Here: it might could have been” simultaneously reflected on the dehumanization of Native Americans and the dehumanized detainees of Guantanamo using symbols both old and new. Most recently my work has reflected circumstances of the border towns I grew up in.
The environment is always present in my work, hot sun bleaching away the colors of the piece itself or threatening the lives of the characters as they bake under it desperately searching for salvation. These are ofttimes created under layers of clothing from my vitamin d deprived body in near isolation while most everyone is in deep slumber, and the funny part is you can make it all up and it becomes true anyway.
Ginger Lazarus, playwright
Burning, my latest play, is probably the most political I’ve ever written but it began from a personal place. I wanted to write a version of Cyrano de Bergerac, one of my favorite love stories, with a lesbian as the main character. She turned out to be ex-Army, kicked out under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and suddenly I found myself confronting the horrible truth about the persecution of queer service members, sexual assault in the military, and the culture of silence that has kept these crimes out of the light. Once I stepped into those waters, I couldn’t not write the play, even though it terrified me. I committed to telling this story as truthfully as I could, for the sake of the people who suffered, endured, or perished in similar circumstances. At the same time, it’s still a love story, intimate and personal.
In real life, I don’t take a very active role in politics or social activism. But I must have my head in the world somehow, because it always works its way in. I start out writing about a couple having a fight, and all of a sudden it’s about 9/11. Yet still really about a relationship. That’s where politics play out in my work.