Occasionally, art has a political agenda. Historically, it was used as propaganda during wars and revolutions. It now is also implemented to question and challenge political norms. This is the case with Francis Alys’s work which creatively protests controversial issues with unique stagings typically dealing with disputed borders. One famous example of his work is when he punched holes in the bottoms of several green paint cans and traced the border between Jerusalem and Palestine. This is a powerful piece of artwork as this line is the cause behind decades of strife and hatred. Another one of his pieces, Bridge/Puente dealt with the embargo on Cuba. He enlisted fishermen in Cuba and Key West to line up their boats to create a chain that spans across the ocean and connects the two nations. To me this symbolizes peace and putting aside differences. A similar project he conducted aimed to connect North Africa and Europe across the Strait of Gibraltar with miniature shoe boats made by children. In both scenarios, the participants knew that the task was virtually impossible, but their role in the macro-political art demonstrated their passion and commitment to the cause. Although this form of art is atypical in that it does not necessarily involve any artistic background or skill, it requires a creative mind to depict a message.
a wiki of socially engaged art