Activism through Art

Michael Rakowitz's is known for his interventions in bad urban situations. In 1998, he initiated one of his best known public art projects, paraSITE, seen in the cities of Boston, Baltimore, and New York. Rakowitz built inflatable shelters for homeless people that attach to the exterior outtake vents of a building's heating, ventilation, or air conditioning system. 

Michael Rakowitz’s  ParaSITE project utilize the vents and ventilation systems from buildings for both temperature and warmth. When warm air leaves the building, it inflates the shelter’s double membrane and simultaneously heats it. ParaSITE inflatable homes have been built and used by many homeless people in need.This Rakowitz’s project shows how art can have an impact on real life and political issues. He is interested in the individual and is providing a solution which is also a form of social protest. Personally I find Rakowit’z ParaSite very effective. Urban winters can be the toughest for the homeless because of  sub-zero temperatures. These temperatures  can mean death for those sleeping on the streets. It is very creative and a easy way to help people who are struggling. The downside of this project is that the inflatable homes might become an obstruction to people walking around the area.

Lucy Orta is an artist who creates artwork that confront social issues such as identity, community, homelessness and the environment.Using performances, public interventions and workshops she challenges society to pay attention to a wide range of issues. In 1992 she has created a series of Refuge Wear and Body Architecture a survival kit for the homeless, a high-performance coat made from technical fabrics that transforms into portable architecture .

Due to this crisis of the war there were many refugees fleeing the war zones and there was also increasing numbers of homeless people in the streets of Paris. She Confronted this crisis by creating, Refuge Wear (1992-98) which are portable habitats that can be transformed into clothing to offer protection from harsh conditions and shelter in emergency situations. I find that these portable habitats are a great solution to the human needs for shelter and clothing. The clothing is visually intriguing which is  good because it gets peoples attention which is one of the goal of  activism.

William L Pope is an African-American artist who does public performances which include him, crawling on his belly in the streets all over the world he is well known  for addressing social issues such as racism and class consumerism, with a littlebit of dark humor. Pope has had 25 years of work in many different Medias, such as; performance works, installation and sculpture. Pope.L took to the streets in Midtown Manhattan to perform Times Square Crawl, a direct urban intervention intended to reveal the naturalized invisibility of homelessness throughout the city.  He sluggishly crawled thorough a Times Square, clogging traffic and creating commotion. I believe Popes crawling performance was really powerful. As he crawled through the dirty streets people were able to see his struggle as he try to continue. The performance is unusual normally this doesn't happen everyday so it was a great way to get the attention of the people, and that way the commercial district was forced to see what had always been underneath their noses.For that moment homelessness actually became visible.

William Pope's crawl, Rakowitz's inflatable homes, and Orta's portable habitats are interventions which shed light to issues often go unnoticed like homeless, ecological concerns, and discrimination. Activism is central to our social life, What these artist have in common is the ability to use their medium for political protest and social activism. Art activists want to change negative aspects of society by means of art.




http://www.walkerart.org/magazine/2015/william-popel-will-exhausthttp://www.walkerart.org/magazine/2015/william-popel-will-exhaust
https://www.studio-orta.com/en
http://www.michaelrakowitz.com