With the election fast approaching, people are beginning to become sick of political talk. It is almost everywhere you turn: ads on TV, Instagram, TikTok, billboards on the side of the road, people canvassing in Turlington Plaza. Politics are inescapable. And where do people normally turn when they want to escape? Art. Whether it be music, painting, watching a movie, TV shows or theater performances, art offers an escape, an opportunity to explore other worlds, experience new and different emotions and avoid stresses brought by the outside world. But is art really apolitical? Or should it be?
Should art offer complete escape from the world, with no talk of the economy, immigration, abortion or inflation? I argue this is the exact purpose of art, and without the inclusion of politics, art falls short.
It is understandable why someone might argue that politics do not belong in the arts. Afterall, the arts are one of the least funded school subjects across the world with 96% of art departments across the US experiencing budget cuts since 2001. As a global community, and specifically in the US, we do not support young artists’ education. Therefore, is it fair to ask them to be political experts, asserting their opinion in their work? We do not fund their work, we do not support their artistic education and yet we expect them to speak out on complex political issues.Â
Some would agree with this sentiment, but I would argue those people have a very narrow view of what exactly politics is. Sure, politics is Kamala Harris debating Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election. It’s congress being divided on party lines, refusing to support the speaker of the house until they get their demands. Politics is voting and protesting and emailing your representatives. It’s abortion rights, gun laws, tax cuts and weapon embargoes. However, politics is also everyday life. It is the reason I can sit here typing this on a computer in a university library in central Florida. Politics is what I had for breakfast and the people I interact with and the subjects I study. Politics is everywhere. And so to argue that artists should ignore it in favor of peace and escape, would be a disservice to the art.Â
While this idea can be found across art mediums, literature, film, music, etc., I will explore it through what most people typically think of when they think about art: paintings.Â
Starting 36,000 years ago when humankind was just beginning, art was political. In the cave paintings found in Lascaux, France a hunt is depicted where people are hunting animals. On the surface, this seems simple enough, maybe they were just recounting a memory. However, this painting reveals family and community structures, who hunts for the food and in what way. It shows what kind of animals they ate, perhaps they had spiritual reasons behind this decision. Whoever took the time to make this painting thought it was important enough to use the resources needed, and they felt safe enough in their environment to take the time to paint. While it does not reveal specifics, the painting highlights motives, relationships, needs and showcases interpersonal interactions, all of which are inherently political.
Fast forwarding to 1787 in Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Socrates, much is revealed in this painting which reflects the politics of the time. From what they are wearing, to the room they are in, the politics of the time is reflected. We can understand some of the values of the time and how they differ to modern day: men wearing one simple piece of fabric, keeping their hair short and beards long, the room built in smooth refined stone, the curve of the arch calculated by a mathematician, the scrolls on the ground reflecting their writing system. Without even exploring the actual meaning of the picture, so many subtle aspects reveal the politics within. Additionally, the composition of a painting can reveal much about the message the artist is trying to convey or the conditions they painted in. Were they rebellious in their choices? Are their materials expensive? This painting highlights how small details within art can showcase the politics of the time.
In more recent times throughout the 20th century, when war raged throughout much of the world, art was not only inherently political but it became a political tool. Propaganda, while having been used prior to the world wars, was created on an international scale to sway people’s opinion. Not only did it try to convince people that one side was better, but it was used to convince people to join the military, to work in a factory, to comply with rations or to support relief efforts. Propaganda and therefore politicized art was imbued in society. And even though there is not currently a world war ongoing, propaganda continues to be used on a massive scale. Harris’s Tik Tok page is propaganda, as is anything Trump posts on social media. The Marvel movie franchise was in part paid for by the US military as propaganda to convince people to join. Politics do not just surface in art during major world events like a war. It is important to be aware of this when consuming any kind of art form.
Just because politics are often found in art as a form of propaganda, more often than not, politics is expressed in art simply as a way of expressing the artist’s own life experiences. As Palestinian poet Marwan Makhoul said, “In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political I must listen to the birds, and in order to listen to the birds the warplanes must be silent.” Politics fill our everyday lives, whether we like it or not. Just as it seems impossible for us to escape politics, it is also impossible for artists to escape politics. And so they may not be providing an expert opinion, or trying to sway your own opinions. They are simply reflecting their experiences, in an environment deep with politics.Â
Instead of cowering away from politics, getting stressed by the potential arguments it may bring on, art invites us to interact with politics in a new way. To explore someone else’s world, the forces that have shaped them and their perspectives, is an experience solely offered by art. We should not shy away from this but instead take it as an opportunity to learn more about the human condition and our world, how different and perhaps how similar it can look to our own.