It was the night after a huge rally at the Boston Common that I personally witnessed activism interpreted differently in the city of Boston. For a couple of hours a night, murals of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others were projected at a large scale on significant buildings in the city of Boston to amplify the facial recognition of these Black faces in the midst of this troubling time in our country. During the Black Lives Matter protests, artists in these times of cataclysm may feel they have the important job to shed light and bring a social change by using their creative power to move us emotionally. Protesting comes in many forms of actions, whether it’s marching or writing a letter to your mayor; for some dedicated artists and designers, the best way for us to protest is through our work.
Photo Credit: Caleb Hawkins at the Mass. State House via Masary Studios (http://www.masarystudios.com/blog/2020/6/10/projection-protests)
Sam Okerstrom-Lang and Caleb Hawkins, of Masary Studio, an installation art collective, had the opportunity to power their projections with a car battery; they looked at their portable projector and saw an ideal protest tool. “Through the creative distillation of our projections, the work became more bold, allowing the faces to speak for themselves. The faces we project are not only to commemorate the lives of those who have been killed by the police, but to memorialize and remind us of the varying stories that have all contributed to a larger narrative in the fight for civil rights. We recognize each face holds a story full of meaning, and a connection to the racial issues our society currently faces.” as said by Sam O of Masary Studios in Americans for the Arts.
As protest projections are a very innovative way to shed light on the Black lives we’ve lost due to police brutality, there is also the original style of painting murals. Muralist David Fitcher invites the youth program of the Somerville Arts Council to his studio to make art for Black Lives Matter demonstrations. The group painted portraits of victims of police violence on lightweight insulation foam to carry through the protests from City Hall Plaza to Boston Common.
The series of images painted were a part of the Mystic River Mural Project overseen by David Fichter himself. Portraits included Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Fred Hampton, and more.
Anthony Araujo-Amaral created a large piece honoring Fred Hampton.
Photo Credit ANTHONY ARAUJO from Boston Globe “Protesting police violence with big, bright art” (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/18/arts/protesting-police-violence-with-big-bright-art/)
If you’ve ever strolled through Cambridge, Central Square’s Graffiti Alley is always an open canvas to graffiti artists. Taggers branded this alley with Black Lives Matter messages and this past summer, the Central Square Business Improvement District commissioned artist Rixy Fz to curate public art for a project called “Speak Your Piece.” She invited 18 artists to take on the neighborhood, utility boxes, windows, and floors, were all spaces they used to express. Fz knows protest art is temporary, it comes and goes as quickly in the minds and hearts of the public as it does on the walls of Graffiti Alley.
Photo Credit by Jessica Rinaldi Boston from Globe “Protesting police violence with big, bright art” (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/18/arts/protesting-police-violence-with-big-bright-art/)
It’s very important during this time that all these different forms of art are not to be a trend. This movement is emphasizing to people that these issues need to be SEEN. It’s not art for the hashtag, it’s not performative activism, it’s artistic activism.
-Gloria
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