art as protest
Is protesting part of relational art? Does it become art the sound of clanging pots by a group gathered or dispersed across a swath of space? I don't know but I do know that although free Cubans were clanging pots at the news of Fidel's death in Miami, the Cubans on the island were nowhere to be seen or heard clanging pots in celebration of his death. Was the media controlling this by not broadcasting the protests or did they not happen because Cubans still fear being detained, jailed or harassed by their neighbors for not being a true patriot?
My creative response is both graphic (which is how propaganda spread throughout Cuba and many other countries) and painterly (what WAS Cuba before the revolution). A woman looks out to the ocean away from her island hoping for a better future. another swims in a pot that barely fits her body. THe warm water will eventually kill her spirit, her voice, and her self. THe irony of liberty or death is that they are not free but and dead by their lack of a voice and choice to speak freely and clang their pots in protest.
