A few months ago I attended a debate by Onbegane Grond about the relation between art and activism. The question was whether art should save the world.
As the debate unfolded the panel divided itself into two camps. On the one hand, there were the activists who felt that artists have the responsibility to make the world a better place through their work. And then, there were the artists who see activist themes as a great inspiration to make art. They were only interested in the artistic value of their work – not in its effect.
This prompted me to pose the hypothesis that activist campaigns would be better off in the hands of advertisers than in the hands of artists. After all, the advertiser is much more experienced in crafting effective communication. He tries to engage the masses, rather than just a niche of art connoisseurs.
It was a shame that there was not much time to discuss this hypothesis. But I think that the case for it has grown stronger over the last couple of months, because of what is probably the most effective activist campaign in recent history: The Occupy movement.
Yesterday I watched Scorsese’s latest 
