Mediating Identities: Community Arts, Media, and Collective Identity in the Frontline Resistance to Fracking (original) (raw)
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Vol. 10 No 20 (2023): Vida quotidiana, experiències i conflictivitats soci territorials en espais de costes i riberes, 2023
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Latin American Research Review, 2016
The transformation of Latin American societies from the 1970s onward and the recent sociopolitical and economic changes at a global scale call for reconsiderations of the relation between art and power and its role in processes of democratization. This article examines art’s social function and its understanding as transformative social praxis—an activity that reflects upon the world and seeks to change it, and that at the same time critically reflects upon its own condition and relation to that world. It specifically suggests the idea of art’s rhetoric in order to conceptualize art’s critical potential and identify processes that generate and displace meaning across artistic, sociopolitical, and discursive contexts. Tucumán Arde (1968) in Argentina, Colectivo Actiones de Arte’s Para no morir de hambre en el arte (1979) in Chile, and Proyecto Venus (2000–2006), based in Buenos Aires, use interdisciplinary methodologies to critically intersect the public sphere. They scrutinize art’s position in society, seek to raise awareness, and act as alternative networks of information and socialization. RESUMEN: La transformación de las sociedades latinoamericanas post-1970 y las recientes reformas sociopolíticas y económicas pide reconsiderar la relación entre el arte y el poder, y su papel en los procesos de democratización. Este artículo examina la función social del arte y su comprensión como transformadora praxis social—una actividad que reflexiona sobre el mundo y trata de cambiarlo, y que al mismo tiempo reflexiona críticamente sobre su propia condición y relación con ese mundo—. Específicamente, con el fin de conceptualizar el potencial crítico del arte, se sugiere la idea de la retórica del arte. Esto ayuda a identificar los procesos que generan y que desplazan el significado a través contextos artísticos, sociopolíticos y discursivos. Tucumán Arde (1968) en Argentina, Para no morir de hambre en el arte (1979) por CADA en Chile, y Proyecto Venus (2000–2006) basado en Buenos Aires emplean metodologías interdisciplinarias para intersectar críticamente la esfera pública. Examinan la posición del arte en la sociedad, apuntan a concientizar, y actúan como redes alternativas de información y de socialización.
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