Can art shape society and politics? According to Joseph Beuys it can. He said that art provides society with the space it needs to be able to imagine. And as such, it has almost unlimited potential.
Of course, she couldn’t have predicted that social media would substantiate her desire, going far beyond painting and sculpture: recently, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas called for a ‘Taylor Swift effect’ in the upcoming June elections. If it is true that the singer persuaded some 35,000 young people to vote through an Instagram appeal alone, we can guess the extent of her massive involvement in the issue. Apparently, her makeup -red lipstick, sharp eyeliner, couture nails- is addictive…
Kim Kardashian even managed to change the female genotype, giving rise to a second-generation ‘Jessica Rabbitian’ morphology. Who doesn’t remember when, with one post, she managed to freeze the accounts of half the world, causing Facebook to lose millions in a matter of hours? 180 million followers weigh more than the government of a state these days. And even there, it was a message closely linked to the American elections. Back on this side of the ocean, Euronews reports that the European Commission is reportedly thinking of signing artists with strong communities such as Maneskin, Rosalia and Stromae. Of course, we are talking about pop stars or socialites here. But it can be done on any artistic front, as Cattelan taught us with his middle finger raised in front of the Milan Stock Exchange.
After all, change, when it is not forced by violence, springs from creative thinking. To change, you have to be able to imagine something different and carve it into your consciousness, even before it is carved in marble.
