In times of crisis, whether created by humans or nature, people often struggle to process the event and aftermath. One method of coping is artistic endeavor, which creatives have turned to throughout history.
Art critic JJ Charlesworth spotlights several artists from different time periods who have used sculpture, painting, writing or music to examine disaster and seek understanding of their own reactions, often seeking to spur their audiences towards change.
From Picasso’s Guernica to modern day statements on timely issues such as climate emergency and immigration, the artist is both reflecting the disaster and the perception of the event, while making their own comment. “In recent years, however, a sense of impending disaster has become an everyday aspect of cultural and political life — the threat of terrorism, the tragedy of the migrant crisis and, hanging over it all, the specter of the climate crisis,” writes Charlesworth. “In such a zeitgeist, artists are making works that respond to current issues and anxieties in increasingly direct ways.”
There is also a danger in how this commentary is received and unintended messages that could hurt or harm. Charlesworth references Christoph Büchel’s piece at the Venice Biennale, “Barca Nostra (Our Boat)”, which used the wreck of a sunken ship that killed approximately 800 people attempting to immigrate to Europe and received criticism for being exploitative. “Among the most persistent criticisms of Büchel’s work was that, in the context of the Biennale, it turned the death of migrants into entertainment for well-heeled, Prosecco-sipping cultural tourists,” wrote Charlesworth.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/art-dealing-with-disaster/index.html
