French artist Edgar Degas once said, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Indeed, it is precisely this characteristic that has allowed art to become a key component of various aspects of our lives—including politics. Just ask the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, whose caricature of the Prophet Mohammad ultimately led to their deaths. Or Senator Bernie Sanders, whose presidential campaign has capitalized on the power of online multimedia to court millennial voters. Or Aretha Franklin, whose song “Respect” was an anthem of the feminist movement in the late 1960s.
Art is a flexible and amorphous term that captures the expression of creativity and imagination. Throughout the ages, humans have used art as a vehicle to convey thoughts and ideas that transcend mundane forms of communication. We have learned to harness the power of everything from landscape paintings and orchestral music to satirical television and picket signs in order to bring to life that which would otherwise be limited to the confines of our minds.
I first encountered the power of art in politics as a seventh grader drawing inspiration from then-Senator Barack Obama’s “Hope” poster. In designing this poster, Shepard Fairey wanted to galvanize voters and infuse them with confidence in the aspiring presidential candidate. Recently, I witnessed another political exhibition of art during Beyoncé’s tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement during her Super Bowl halftime performance. At a time when the deaths of people like Sandra Bland and Freddie Gray occupy the public sphere, Beyoncé wanted to use her music to inspire African-Americans “to feel proud and have love for themselves.” There is no doubt that art, regardless of its medium, has the potential to be used as a powerful political tool.
Therefore, I find no topic more apt for the HPR to tackle than the intersection of art and politics. Within the pages of this magazine, Hana Connelly takes us to France, where she analyzes the pitfalls of classifying multicultural art into easily digestible categories. Frankie Hill outlines the evolution of protest music from Revolutionary War tunes to contemporary songs like Macklemore’s “Same Love.” Apoorva Rangan explores how artist M.I.A.’s personal background and political views on refugees inform her music. Brandon Dixon takes a critical look at dystopian and superhero films and connects them to anti-government sentiment. This issue also includes exclusive interviews with Anne Hawley, the former director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Conan O’Brien, famed comedian and talk-show host.
State of the Art is the HPR’s first issue under my leadership, and I am so proud of all the hard work my staff writers, publication staff, and editors have put into it. I am honored to be serving such a distinguished magazine alongside some of the most dedicated and intelligent people I have met while attending Harvard. I ask that you look forward to the upcoming year as we continue to engage critically with our readers and tackle challenging questions confronting today’s society.
Joseph Choe
President