Multimediale

On Friday, April 20, 2007 I had the pleasure of attending the Multimediale; “Capturing the Capital” art exhibit at the Provisions Library in Dupont Circle of the nation’s capital. This multimedia exhibit showcased the work of artists who thrive in the political realm that is Washington, DC. On this particular night of the festival, which was three days long, a video screening of various works by these politically charged artists gave the audience a myriad of political expressions to choose from.
The reach and scope of the artists’ political beliefs was presented in varied contextual schemes. One film played on the inherent value in paying attention to the things around us. The film used the annoyance of pop-up windows and the games they contain to illustrate the new face of violence in America. Astonishingly, most in the audience didn’t receive the violence well; that is, until they found out who the victim was. After a slight pan, the behavior of the audience changes. When members of the audience were able to notice that the victim was non other than international terrorist, Osama bin Laden, many responded with casual laughter and unconcerned countenances. This change from the original demeanor illustrates the power of media on a broad and varied consumer market.
The most noticeable affect of this piece is more than likely to be the use of violence. Perhaps the most important detail, however, lies in the fact that these games are contained within a pop-up window, many of which often go unnoticed. These pop-up windows are designed to lure naïve consumers into ill-fated scams that have them believe that playing a game will somehow win them a particular prize. Full aware of the consequences of playing, many simply close the pesky pop-up up window, never taking the time to read the content of the message; these messages often reach consumers subliminally.
As stated before, many topics were explored and many were presented in interesting ways. This piece, however, indicates the inherent power of media in and over our world, a point the artist did a great job at portraying. The controversy presented in this particular piece, as explained earlier, completely caused the audience to change their viewpoint. Media in our world today has a unique ability to transform the thoughts of people almost instantaneously.


Another piece to be noted is U.S. REP by Brian Judy. The video game, which allows the user to undertake the roll of any member of congress. The interactive game allows the user to gain political influence and use the legislative body to push his personal political regime in hopes of changing America.

Art as Mediation

In this new day and age, limited communication by cultures has been emphasized by the fact that mediators and buffers like religion have lost their influence. Today, the United Nations and activists worldwide have replaced a meeting of priests to talk about the state of world affairs.
Perhaps the most prominent of the mediators has gone overlooked, however. Art, in its most basic form is the sharing of creative works by various people. At times these works are created for personal leisure, but most of the time to impart on an audience an interpretation of the world around them. In this expression political regimes can be questioned, terrorists can be defeated, and all people can exist as equals. Expressing these controversial topics in art reminds the audience that certain problems exist in the world, but also allows the audience to interpret the controversy at their own discretion. Dialogue may or may not be exchanged regarding the piece on display, but the audience at the very least, leaves thinking about the topic that the artist has presented. Currently, artist use their memory of war as their visual platform and mediation to reflect on politics and power.
This unspoken dialogue is the mediation that art now serves in our world. Although a panel may never be formed to discuss the genocide that is Darfur, certainly an art show on behalf of the cause will encourage people to identify it as a severe problem when they leave. Beral Madra, a curator from Istanbul, Turkey talked about this phenomenon in depth in a lecture to an American University audience on April 19, 2007. Madra attests that the new cultural climate of the 21st century has allowed artists to be the new intermediaries between world peace and world conflict. A shift from religious absolutism to individualism has allowed many artists the freedom and space to challenge conflict with the expectation that understanding might result and that people might be challenged to do something on their own to change the way of the world.
This freedom to express oneself is not always as easy as it seems. Journalists in the Middle East for instance, face persecution and risk their lives each time they write a piece about the state of their government’s affairs. Artists all around the world have had to devise elaborate schemes to get their art to the world. Today, many artists use symbols and varied imagery to portray their point of view. In design for instance, artists can interchange between image and sound to create a work that can affect many. The use of moving images has allowed for many artists to question the world around them and give the rest of the world a notice about the current state of affairs.
An example of this is in the documented footage of the use of children in the Civil Rights Movement. Without these horrendous images, perhaps this blatant problem in American culture and politics might have gone unnoticed. This footage, however, gave racism a face and brought it right into the homes of all Americans. With this, Americans had to question themselves on the political spectrum of this issue and soon mediation was able to result when many realized that what was institutionalized at the moment should not have been the case. Only after these images were shown were artists able to capitalize on shock value and change the way the world around them considered this specific issue.
In the end, artists will probably always be shunned for the causes they choose to interpret in their art. The challenge is to devise new and innovative ways to speak the truth regardless of whom around you believes otherwise. It is important to remember that the creative force behind a great work is the artist himself; without the artist, something that may need to be said could never be said and the crucial role of mediation can never be revealed.