Awareness Artists

Before we get to today’s topic: your thoughts needed! “Experience design” is the most commonly requested topic for this newsletter to cover. So we’re going to do just that. But first, I need to hear from you. Here’s my one question:

QUESTION: What do you think “experience design” means? 

Hit REPLY and let me know. No wrong answers. No judging. Just me saying “thank you”!

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Awareness art (aka protest art) is art that exists primarily to draw attention to an issue, or to object to a situation.

I’m a bit obsessed with it.

Why? Many — no, all — exhibition projects have some form of awareness-building as the main point.

So if you think of an entire exhibition as an artwork, then in a sense, exhibition people are awareness artists.

[Distant mystical gong noise]

Of course, there are countless artists with profound political dimensions to their work and life (e.g., Ai Wei Wei). But awareness art is for the purpose of raising awareness. It has to be good to work, but it’s not art for art’s sake.

Take a look at the images in this article. You’ll be gone for a while. Yes, it’s from a blog by a Malaysian computer programmer. But it’s the best single source I can find. It makes me want to run out and make some myself.

Here’s the thing:
If you are an exhibition person, and your projects raise awareness about something, you just might be … an awareness artist.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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Credit panel. A panel in an exhibition that lists the main contributors, collaborators, lenders, and funders of the show. Credit panels are easy to make, and they make the participants proud to be involved. So why not have as many names on it as you can?