Artists Seeking Social Change - KQED Arts (8min)

 


Artists Seeking Social Change - KQED Arts 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocCsQpnjNrw
(8min)

A video named "Artists Seeking Social Change" by KQED Arts follows the work of two artists involved in social practice art in Oakland. As I wrote about in my last post, I had not heard of social practice art until recently, so it was exciting to learn more about artists involved in this art form and what more work of this kind could look like. 

Chris Treggiari

   Chris Treggiari is an American artist working in social practice art. Chris Treggiari went into the streets of Oakland to ask the community questions about what is happening in their city. He built an interactive news van and interviewed the public on their opinions about the changes occurring in Oakland. 

Stephen Nienu after talking to Chris Treggiari (Andrew Stelzer/KQED)

Chris quizzed individuals about the Domain Awareness Center, a project that was recently launched in Oakland to collect data and has caused a lot of controversy. This was to find out how much the community knew about the program, but also served as an opportunity to educate them. He then interviewed them on their thoughts and opinions about the topic of surveillance. Afterward, participants filled out cards shown in the image above with their thoughts on surveillance. This kind of project not only educates participants and viewers on current issues; it also gives us insight to how the public is handling these changes.  

Chris Johnson with his installation, "The Best Way to Find a Hero." (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Chris Johnson is a photographer also working in the art of social practice. In his project, "The Best Way to Find a Hero," he made a map of Oakland that outlines neighborhoods that are considered to be "troubled." He then threw darts at these parts of the map and physically went to the locations the darts landed on to talk to the community. He wanted to highlight every day heroes by finding people who are thriving in the face of adversity. His work shines light on the individuals within the community of Oakland and lets us in on their experiences. 

The work done by both Chris Treggiari and Chris Johnson is unique in that it involves the community. It's exciting to see artists going out to public places to learn more about other people, their experiences, and their opinions. It is because of their work that we, the viewers, are able to learn more about these communities and current issues that happen outside of our city. 

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