Throughout the history of our world, art has been able to reach and move people to social change. By brining awareness through a variety of different art pieces, artists are now recognized as advocates in some of the most controversial issues of our time. Artists are able to manipulate creative works to confront the public in their day to day environments with social issues that would otherwise be ignored. In this essay I am going to analyze 2 creative works that have lead to a deeper understanding of “social justice”. The first topic I will address is a creative work intended to bring awareness to the rising number of homeless persons and the second topic with address gender street harassment.
The first piece of art I chose to analyze is a piece that is known as “Invisible Homeless” created by Luke Jerram. It is a life size figure of a sleeping homeless person covered in a blanket made of of glass. The artists used the glass to portray a very realistic fragile ghost-like state of a homeless person on the streets in the U.K. Luke made the sculpture by first making a mold of a sleeping man on his side. He then continued by using fabric to drape over the mold and poured a mix of glass over the top. The glass mixture then hardened into the finished icy shape. The creative work can easily manipulate the emotions of the viewers by connecting them with the emotions of the homeless.
The sculpture was intended to remind the more fortunate of the rapidly increasing number of homeless people sleeping on the streets. There are reports that in U.K. alone, 150,000 people have requested assisted housing. Sadly, almost half of them were turned away by local authority, leaving them in unstable and unsanitary living conditions. Jerram explained: ‘For every person you see sleeping on the streets, there are many others sleeping in hostels, squats and other forms of unsatisfactory and insecure accommodation. I was interested to see whether the sculpture would be ignored and treated like street furniture as homeless people often are in a city. I hope the artwork will raise awareness of the problem and that the public will feel moved to support the charity, to make a difference.”
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The final creative works I have chosen to discus is referred to as “Stop Telling Women to Smile”. It is a short film focused on the artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. In the video she describes her street art-work and the meaning her murals hold. Tatyana has drawn portraits of many women with captions beneath them that directly speak to the offenders in the public eye. In her murals the public is able to see the women’s faces and hear the women’s voices. She first started in Brooklyn, New York and continues to travel to other cities to do the same. Tatyana claims that street harassment is a very serious issue and that it should not be taken lightly. She acknowledges that it affects women all around the world and often makes them feel uncomfortable and unsafe on the streets. She is able to use her murals as a tool to make an impact and bring awareness to gender street harassment. Tatyana feels privileged that her art is meaningful and can do good for other people. (Tatyana Fazlalizadeh)
