Justice
After listening to Linda Stein present the circumstance in which one is put in the difficult position between helping someone seeking refuge and risking one's life, I began to think about a common theme of bravery. I would like to think that the choice is easy, that doing the right thing for others and humanity is straightforward and uncomplicated. I do not believe it is possible for one to truly know what they would do in this situation. It seems as though the dilemma lies in the risk of losing what you have in the process of helping others.
Listening to Ruth Gruber speak in "My Name is Ruth Gruber", it was evident that she did not view this as a choice, but rather her duty to use her art, her platform, to inform the American people of the devastation of the Holocaust. Gruber states, "And then I began to realize how important it was to have tools and my tools were words and images and I could use those tools to fight injustice." Listening to Ruth Gruber's realization of her sense of duty and her revelation of using photographs as a method of fighting injustice, I connect with the idea of the power of image.
Often, it seems humans are able to dissociate from issues of injustice when there is no connection made, or rather there is a lack of empathy. By creating something visual, such as a photograph, as Ruth Gruber did, it creates an opportunity to connect, to truly see. As evident from the video, Gruber viewed these photographs as belonging to the world. They were documentation of the events taking place in the world, which made tuning in more accessible.
Today we see images of people seeking help, seeking refuge, flooding the media. Unfortunately, there is often a narrative of danger or reason to fear attached to these images. Connecting back to the idea of the fear of losing what we have, media often conveys a message of "other" to these images. This wrongly gives people the idea that helping "others" means they are sacrificing something- safety, jobs, etc. It reminds me of the importance of Gruber's work in finding a way to promote empathy. Finding ways to use our tools of words, images, art, and music to connect and help people see the wrong that is happening.
References
https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/US/trump-administration-border-full-blown-humanitarian-crisis-opinion/story?id=59797528
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-did-ellis-island-officials-really-change-names-immigrants-180961544/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration
Listening to Ruth Gruber speak in "My Name is Ruth Gruber", it was evident that she did not view this as a choice, but rather her duty to use her art, her platform, to inform the American people of the devastation of the Holocaust. Gruber states, "And then I began to realize how important it was to have tools and my tools were words and images and I could use those tools to fight injustice." Listening to Ruth Gruber's realization of her sense of duty and her revelation of using photographs as a method of fighting injustice, I connect with the idea of the power of image.
Often, it seems humans are able to dissociate from issues of injustice when there is no connection made, or rather there is a lack of empathy. By creating something visual, such as a photograph, as Ruth Gruber did, it creates an opportunity to connect, to truly see. As evident from the video, Gruber viewed these photographs as belonging to the world. They were documentation of the events taking place in the world, which made tuning in more accessible.
Today we see images of people seeking help, seeking refuge, flooding the media. Unfortunately, there is often a narrative of danger or reason to fear attached to these images. Connecting back to the idea of the fear of losing what we have, media often conveys a message of "other" to these images. This wrongly gives people the idea that helping "others" means they are sacrificing something- safety, jobs, etc. It reminds me of the importance of Gruber's work in finding a way to promote empathy. Finding ways to use our tools of words, images, art, and music to connect and help people see the wrong that is happening.
References
https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/US/trump-administration-border-full-blown-humanitarian-crisis-opinion/story?id=59797528
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-did-ellis-island-officials-really-change-names-immigrants-180961544/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration
You raise several important considerations for art education such as the need to teach awareness of how images evoke emotions, whether fear of others or empathy toward those who are different from self, among other affect responses. More commonly, art lessons ask students to self-express their emotions but less often does art curriculum explore how emotions are conveyed by the visual culture of photographs of current events.
ReplyDeleteKaren gets at something deeply important here. Self-expression is so often seen as the motivation for teaching children art. But what if that expression is misguided? While I'll agree that all art contains the artist in some respect, in fact it has to or it's just plastic, artists and educators should be using the art to teach.
DeleteCourtney touched on both the ability for photographs and art to create empathy and expose us to otherwise unknown people and struggles, while also being able to be used as propaganda, used to promote an agenda. In the example she gives above, much of news coverage today uses photographs and videos to manipulate the news story in favor of the news outlet's opinion.
DeleteLast year, we asked a group of students "What can I do?" They created artwork surrounding issues of social justice that directly affect them. Students in older groups, who tackled serious issues, were asked to research while making their artwork, including opposing opinions, if possible. It was a moment for them to consider how their art can be used to convey a message, while reminding them to look beyond just their own opinion.