Art is a method of human expression through the application of imaginations and skills. There are two main types of art; visual art and the performing art. The visual art is a form of art that is represented through a medium by the artist to express the artist’s idea, imagination or emotion. The several types of visual artworks include paintings, sculptures and even architect drawings. It is through those objects which are the medium of expression that the artists could display their feelings and ideas (Lampert 182).
The second type of art is performing art. This is a type of art which the author or artist is directly involved in performance or the tool is performable. An example of such artworks includes; music, movies, poems, drama, magic shows, dance, stand up comedies among many other performance artworks. The paper will discuss the impact of art in politics and its impact on politics and society at large. The paper will also give insights on the drawbacks of using artworks to express political stance and emotions.
Art serves the community in many different ways apart from being used by the author or artist to communicate his or her own ideas. The art is a source of cultural richness because a certain culture and its history can only be gotten from the artworks of the particular society. If a society is more of sculpture creating, then most of the cultural history and wealth will come from the sculptures. Art is also used for entertainment. The performance art is the one mostly that suits entertainment in society because it is interactive. For instance, drama and poems are interactive and entertaining. People gather in theatres to enjoy the different types of artworks which the owners present (Miller 243).
The economic value is that the artworks are sold or rented by the owners for income. Art and politics Some people say that ‘art always has an element of politics’ while others argue that it isn’t the art that has politics but the politics corrupt the art. The two statements show that art plays a big part in politics. Basing on the idea that art is a form of expression of emotions, ideas and societal representation, politics are bound to be linked with the art since they revolve around the emotions, ideas and other social functions. Art sometimes communicates politically more than the words. There are four basic ways through which art is used in politics; To show political injustice Art is a very important tool in expressing discontentment in politics especially when they are marred with injustices. The art comes up with strong items which show the community that the political injustices warrant some resistance and should be allowed to continue.
The type of arts to express political injustice can be a poem, song, cartoon or even a movie. The artists try to come up with art that is catchy and emotional in making sure that most people love it and embrace resistance against political injustice. Some artists come up with emotional songs which when sung by society give them a deeper meaning of what they are going through due to the political injustices (Lampert 183). For instance, the song “Get off the Track” by Hutchinson played a very important role in the abolition of slavery against African Americans.
The author felt that the African Americans were being unjustly treated by the government and the white settlers. The song influenced most of the African Americans to start fighting for their freedom in the year 1844 and through that, they gained freedom at last. Building political communities Art is a common item which brings people together in society. Art reaches many people and its massage technically binds the hearts of the people. The people are possessed with the author’s ideas of oneness and hence form a compact society which can determine its goals and political will. The art is used to ‘collect political multitudes for or against a certain political side. In most of the political battles, the parties who are involved in artistic politics usually carry the day and if not, they manage to dismantle the positive traits of the competitor.
For instance, the previous United States of America politics had so many artworks against the current president, Donald Trump from Clinton’s camp. Several memes and toy sculptures were made to represent Trump as a bad choice for the people of the United States of America. So many cartoons were published by the artists showing Trump as an ‘Idiot’ and a ‘rapist’ a campaign strategy that so most of Americans shift from Trump’s camp and join Clinton’s camp. Ending political woes After politics, there are those who remain politically wounded and unhappy with the political results while others through the dices are higher with full of ego and fulfillment. The two groups develop bitterness against each other with one labeling the other one as a failure and the other camp feeling the bitterness of being a loser.
The political enmity may leave so many political, economic and social ills which can only be healed by the statesmen and women coming together and resolving to work together (Nonchlin 35). Some poetic artists come up with poems insisting on the importance of unity and understanding despite the results of the polls (Miller 242). For instance, the movie “In the Loop” is a 2009 movie meant to assist in preventing war between two countries. It is through that kind of a movie that a bitter countryman will pull back and embrace peace and understanding. Create historical memories for future politics History is an important aspect of building any political history of a nation or a community.
Stories, poems, sculptures, and painting storing important information concerning a certain political event or situation can affect the politics of even today. A sculpture showing an ancient king or political leader can determine the line of choice of some people in society. If the leader was a great one and the current political aspirant is from his or her family lineage, there is a probability that most people will choose that person on those bases. By seeing the sculpture or the drawn portrait, those who had no opportunity to see the historical moments might now have the true feeling of the historical person. Another example is movies in the Second World War. The movies remain to be historic reminders of genocides and wastage against humanity over those years (Nonchlin 34).
The current society might not wish to go back to such dark times not due to experience but due to the artworks created to store the historical moment. Most people after watching that can wish for other terms of solving the conflict other than war. That is due to the influence of art. Those are some of the many contributions of art to politics. Apart from the positive contributions of art to politics, there are some drawbacks of involving art in the political arena. Some of the drawbacks of art in politics include; Fuelling violence – art is so influential in a way that a single release may make someone bitter against another person and instantly ensue to a war.
Most civil wars start by simple artworks which most people may never think they can cause such a great loss. An artist may come up with a piece of strong and influential music hitting a certain community politically and in return, the other community swears to revenge leading to a civil war (Lampert 185). Some movies are so biased and targeting a certain political group leading to bloodshed and lasting violence. May lead to a permanent dent on certain political figures. Art can be used to shame some political aspirants through propaganda without worrying about their afterword effects to their children, families and even themselves. For instance, some graffiti, movies or dollies created during the previous elections of United States of America depicting Trump as a rapist and an idiot through naked dollies and cartoons had a permanent dent on Trump’s name.
Even after a hundred years, the same pictures and sculptures will be there and thus making a permanent dent on Trump’s family tree (Miller 243). May influence people for the wrong political choice – Any misleading art can make most people go wrong in their political choices. Art is a very vital tool of convincing people and if the art manages to come up with an influential wave to turn the politics of a certain community, then most of the people will follow that particular idea. A wrong political choice has negative consequences and thus art can be a poor political advisor to the people.
