Hess Sahlollbey

Social Awareness in art: Should art-making be used to address social issues?

I am of the opinion that art-making shouldn't be used to address social issues. The

psychoanalyst Carl Jung said, "People don’t have ideas, ideas have people1". Ideas, in this case

social issues, have an independent existence that can infect and take over how people think and

express themselves. Art, as we've learned in our classroom activities, is a tool for expressing

one's voice.

When art is used to address social issues, especially in a classroom, there is always a danger

of indoctrination into a system of ideas or beliefs thus losing one’s unique voice. When an artist

is creating art, they shouldn’t exactly be able to say what they are doing. An artist is supposed to

venture into the unknown and the undiscovered and then render artistically what they discover.

Art making to address social issues is thus not an exploration into the unknown because the artist

is not searching for an answer; the social issue they are adressing is the answer2. Before someone

can address a social issue, or even express their voice, they must learn the tools, techniques and

technical aspects of the discipline.

Today in art education, the curriculum is geared toward contemporary/ modern art

practices/activities. Universities, specifically art-programs, should be places where students

master technical skills3. We don’t teach students in English class how to write essays to address

social issues, instead we imbed them with the skills they need so that they can think for

1 The original quote from Jung uses language that it more precise: "Everyone knows nowadays that people
“have complexes.” What is not so well known, though far more important theoretically, is that complexes
can have us." - Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 8: Structure & Dynamics of the Psyche (par. 200).
2 Joseph Campbell, in his discussion with Bill Moyers, highlights how people must divorce themselves from

ideologies and instead listen to one's own spiritual and heart life. Aligning yourself with an ideology or
program leads to a programmatic life that is not aligned with what the heart and soul want.
Campbell, J., & Moyers, B. (2011). The power of myth. New York: Anchor.
3 The Vitruvian Man, by da Vinci for instance is an impressive work of art because it displays the technical

precision of da Vinci in rendering anatomy and proportion with precision.

themselves and express them with precision. We teach students math and science in a classical

way of repetition, study and practice and should apply those teaching manners to art-making.

Once the student has learnt all of the formal and technical aspects or art making, they should then

set about on the path of art-making as a means of exploring their soul and their moral quandaries.

Great art, as in art that is considered perfect and not ideologically driven, is a pathway to god,

this is why it does not decay with time, instead our appreciation and awe for it only magnifies

and grows as the art piece ages and becomes eternal.