If we take up the premise advanced by Herbert Marcuse in his book The Aesthetic Dimension: Toward a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics,1 then admittedly, art cannot change the world, but it can “foster an alternative sensibility, an alternative way of thinking and feeling”. It can, moreover, help to “change the consciousness and drive of those men and women who could change the world”. It is well known that human beings are creatures of habit who recurrently require many different stimuli to jolt them out of their lethargy, and, too, that artists are in the marvellous position of challenging the status quo. Since time immemorial the latter have been negotiating different modes of perception, over and over again, and insofar personify the “soft agitators” who propel social change.
It is likewise clear that those grievances, questions and possible solutions first brought to light or proposed by art must subsequently be negotiated in and with other areas of society; and we need not begin radically by changing the world completely; let us begin with we ourselves, as art viewers. After all, we live in a world today, in which we all yearn for or even crave answers that are as prompt and concrete as possible. This may, for example, imply asking ourselves, how we want to live in the future, what we need to reconsider and change in our behaviour, and how we might all together become happy or happier. In which case it would be only a matter of time before this – starting with the individual – brought about far more sweeping change and positive effects for all. And why not allow that art has this power to trigger change?
One wonderful characteristic of art is that it is quick to ask important questions and so stay one step ahead in drawing attention to current affairs of social relevance. In similar vein, all the artists in “Soft Agitators” question the circumstances of our reality and (co-)existence. If art moves visitors on a personal level, it is much more likely to engage their interest. It is initially through the senses that the message in a work of art makes its way into the minds and, finally, the hearts of those who see it! Thus, any exhibition is an experiment in fusing many different artistic perspectives. Visitors with an open mind may gain insights that call into question their previous view of the world, in part or in total. Optimally, their consciousness is stimulated to such a degree that they then help to shape a “new future” through what they do, or don’t do. It is vital, therefore, to look and listen very carefully, from now on, not only in this art exhibition but in those to come!
