Arts and Society Category

Reflections On “Anarchist” Structures And Aesthetics In Cultural Collectives, Part 2 (Jeffrey Swartz)
The following is the second installment of a two-part series. The first can be found here. An abridged version of this text was previously published in Spanish as “Reflexiones sobre las estructuras y estéticas anarquistas en los colectivos culturales”, in Sitesize, ¡Cataluña termina aquí! ¡Aquí empieza Murcia!, Barcelona: Sitesize, 2014The featured…

Pussy Riot – Political Affect and Religious Feelings, Part 2 (Vasilina Orlova)
The following is the second of a two-part series. The first can be found here. The possibility of seven-year sentences for the perpetrators in colorful dresses was discussed as too benevolent a punishment in such circumstances. At the same time, state officials suggested that to keep women in custody was…

Pussy Riot – Political Affect and Religious Feelings, Part 1 (Vasilina Orlova)
The following is the first of a two-part series. On February 21, 2012 the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot staged a performance in the Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow, 2012. Three members of the group were arrested, accused of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and sentenced to two years…

How Political Art That Works…Works (Margot Mitchell-Nockowitz)
In the 2017 Whitney Museum Biennial, contemporary painter Dana Schutz’s contributing work “Open Casket” (2016) was set to be exhibited for an allotted time of 18 weeks. It was hung with and in between the multimedia works by other artists, all of which were meant to be in a curatorial…

Charles Cassar – An Artist of “Colour” (Louis Lagana)
Maltese artist Charles Cassar explored aquatic imagery and marine creatures in his works. His father, a Navy man, instilled in him a love for the sea. Cassar’s art reflects nature’s textures in powerful representations of changing moods. Charles Cassar spent his early days as a student at the Lyceum. He…

Creating a Room of One’s Own – The Feminine Placemaking of “Womanhouse” (Shelby Maiden)
The visual and performing arts are inherently bonded to the art of literature; all additionally lend themselves to the narratives of women and their specific hardships. Examination of the relationship between each art form and its history is vital, but perhaps even more essential is the relationship that contemporary art…

How To Talk About Art, Part 1 – What Is Art? (Rebekah Gordon)
The following is the first of a three-part series on the nature and language of art and artistic expression. Art, like religion(s), or love, can be an ephemeral and esoteric concept – difficult to put into concrete terms. What makes art “art”? Many have asked this question, and their definitions of…