Recently I came across the MOCA website and was pleasantly surprised to see that the Geffen Contemporary will be recreating the work of well known artist Allan Kaprow. Kaprow created a style of art during the 50s and 60s known as Happenings. This term comes from the fact that the art “pieces” are acted out in real life rather than depicted in an object. Generally Happenings are slightly different every time they are acted and the viewers as well as the actors become the artwork themselves. The idea is to take the emotion that was prevalent in the artists before Kaprow, the Abstract Expressionists, and make it a living thing rather then a representation. This event seems like a great thing to be displaying at a contemporary museum, but it made me begin to think of why museums and galleries are recreating the events that one may read in their art history books. It is one thing to display a painting for the reason of public display, but the events such as Happenings are normally seen today in photos. Why are we recreating them? Not only are events being recreated, but does that influence new artists to produce simalarly political art?

I believe that most art movements are driven by some social or political issue that influence the physical qualities of an artwork and with every generation, there are new social issues to address, therefore the creation of new movements is always occurring. But, I would like to know, is this creation really just a recycling of what has already happened. The past seems to be cyclical in other forms of expression and style, such as fashion, food, architecture, even hairstyles, so it seems only natural to include art into the cyclical category. As with every rebirth, a modern aspect is added and I think this is causing artists today to continue the tradition of art with a message, only this time the message is relevant to the younger generation. For example, current issues within the U.S, like the economy, or more specific issues like the flood in New Orleans.

The recreation of Happenings at MOCA is one clue to this rebirth of socially driven art, but I have a feeling that the socially aware public during these times of politics and war are the bigger reasons museums are trying to satisfy their audience. A popular example from the past comes from 1970 when artist Hans Haacke created an installation in the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, where he posted the question “Would the fact that Governor Rockefeller has not denounced President Nixon’s Indochina policy be a reason for you not to vote for him in November?”, as seen in the image below.

What seemed shocking about his installation was the fact that the Rockefeller family heavily supported MOMA as well as the clear boxes which easily revealed the general consensus to the viewers. Haacke’s other work was politically driven as well, as was much of the art during the 60s and 70s. Haacke believed that art was lodged between social and political conflicts and the growing resistance to the Vietnam war as well as civil rights struggles fueled the creativity and messages behind artwork. With similar political issues in today’s world, art similar to Haacke can be found in the street art movement. One of the most well known and political street artist working today would be Banksy. His work is comprised of well known images manipulated to critique a social or political issue. Since the majority of his work is combined with public buildings, the message is clearly a critique of the edifice he chooses to tag.

This piece, provided by banksy, is painted on a security fench and depicts children digging towards paradise. Similar to the anti-Vietnam art, this piece critiques political issues that are relevant to the viewers of today.

As political and social art become more discovered, it looks like artists will countinue to push the boundaries to get their message across. With the introduction and wide spread interest in street art, these messages are more easily read than fifty years ago. The treand seems to be continuing with the use of street art for the birthplace of these messages, but as street artist begin to be more widely accepted within the gallery space, I think political art will probably become more blatant with less censorship.