The Creative Instigator’s Handbook

A DIY Guide to Making Social Change through Art

Leanne Prain

• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781551527918
• eBook ISBN: 9781551528762
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

Flash mobs come and go, but purposeful creativity can change communities. Are you a creative (aspiring or otherwise) who is curious about how you can apply your skills to activist, socially engaged art projects? Whether you paint, sew, sing, build, weld, or rhyme, Make It Meaningful explores how to take that big project you've been dreaming about and actually make it a happen.

In response to the challenging times that we live in, Make It Meaningful will inspire readers to use their creativity to spur change in the world around them. Guiding readers through the various aspects of a project from ideation to final documentation, the book examines the relationship between creative leadership, community art projects, and social justice, and includes the perspectives of 23 creative instigators who have stretched the boundaries of what "art" should or shouldn't do.

Bold and imaginative, Make It Meaningful will appeal to creatives willing to expand their comfort zone by jumping into the fray and doing some outrageous, inspired rabble-rousing of their very own.

Full-color throughout.

CHAPTER 1 CALLING ALL CREATIVE INSTIGATORS

“2+2=8, create your own reality.”

TYREE GUYTON

A creative instigator is someone who possesses an extraordinary skill: they’ve mastered the art of positive troublemaking. If you’ve picked up this book, I can assume two things: one, you are a creative person, and two, you have an interest in changing the world around you. I think you have what it takes to be a creative instigator.

The artists, designers, activists, and other troublemakers discussed in this book all make a difference by using their creativity to connect people. Sometimes this work is participatory, inviting the public into an act of making art together, and sometimes this work is more of a collaborative effort—but common to all of those profiled is that they all strive to make an impact. The case studies in this book look at the genius, motivations, and methods of these rule-breakers, visionaries, and mad scientists. They don’t always follow society’s polite directions, and they are comfortable charting the unknown. I hope that their stories and advice inspire you to attempt some creative rabble-rousing of your own and to use your creativity to work with others in true, authentic connection.

Artistic troublemaking is not prescriptive. There isn’t a tidy checklist of to-do items that will ensure you make an impact on the world around you. Instead, this book presents various ideas and approaches to consider. On your journey, there might be failures and moments of doubt, but I challenge you to go ahead, willingly embrace the ups and downs, and try that thing that you’ve been thinking about.

ART AND RESISTANCE

The year 2020 may have been the first time in human history when every person in the world was facing a common trauma—COVID-19. Each of us experienced an enormous change over a matter of weeks. The pandemic altered every aspect of human life. And it wasn’t just disease that marked 2020 as a brutal year in human history; economic inequity, violence, racism, environmental destruction, fascism and nationalism, and fear-mongering and ignorance surfaced in the public consciousness. We witnessed how caring and reliable humans can be, but equally, how destructive and self-serving. The pandemic forced us to take a hard look at how our societies are built, who they benefit, and who they don’t. We learned more about who we are—the good and the bad. Each and every one of us has work to do to repair society for the better.

I don’t know about you, but for me, time feels more limited, and its passage significant. There are days when I ask myself, what change do I want to see during my limited time on this planet? How can I contribute to lasting change? How can I help make a society in which outrageous joy and truth-telling are part of everyone’s lived experience?

Human beings have a need to come together, even when something as deadly as a virus is keeping us six feet apart. As the fight against disease, war, environmental crisis, fascism, and racism has taught us, there is strength in numbers. In times of crisis, the media looks for fixers in the form of economists, politicians, and lawmakers, but rarely does it look to artists, designers, and activists—those among us with the greatest capacity to be changemakers. Art is like the childhood game Telephone where one person interprets the story of another in their own way. Art weaves itself through human history, with one piece of work referencing what came before while also becoming something entirely new. It is a way of sharing experiences through the generations, across cultures. It exposes us to different narratives and helps communities seek to understand one another.

MAKING IS AN ACT OF HOPE

You don’t need witchcraft, a sleeve of tattoos, or an MFA to be a creative person. You do, however, have to allow yourself to be vulnerable if you want to involve other people in your creativity. Being an artistic changemaker often means getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Butterflies, nausea, a twinge of anxiety—everyone approaches the creative process differently, but for most of us, sharing your whole self involves the most dangerous of emotions: trust. Trust in yourself and trust in other people.

You don’t need to paint a mural on a skyscraper (though if you are inclined, I’m not going to argue), but you should do something that stretches your creative limits and invites other people to participate.

BETSY GREER, You Are So Very Beautiful. | Photo: Cynthia Combs. Signs collected for the Baltimore drop by Mary England.

You Are So Very Beautiful

Want to participate in this project?

All it takes are four tiny things:

• • MAKE A SIGN (no bigger than palm size, please) that contains an affirmation starting with “You are” on it. Many of them have been stitched, but feel free to get creative. People have also done things like painted rocks and made balloon roses!
• • TAG: It’s up to you if you tag it with your @social_media_handle, but please tag the back of the sign with #yasvb.
• • PLACE the sign somewhere in your city. On a window ledge. On a bus seat. Under the edge of a flower pot. In a change machine slot. Anywhere it might be found by someone.
• • DOCUMENT! If you have your phone or camera on you, please take a photo and either post it on social media with the hashtag #yasvb or email Betsy Greer ([email protected]) the photo(s) so Betsy can share them!

To see examples of what others have done, check on the #yasvb hashtag on Instagram!

TYREE GUYTON, Dotty Wotty House, The Heidelberg Project, Detroit, Mich...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Calling All Creative Instigators
• Chapter 2. Get Comfortable with Your Creative Voice
• Chapter 3. What Activates You?
• Chapter 4. Coconspirators Unite!
• Chapter 5. Learn More: Do Your Research
• Chapter 6. Practice Makes Perfect: Iterate and Prototype
• Chapter 7. Be Your Own Megaphone: Promote That Thing
• Chapter 8. Make It Wondrous: Execute Your Project
• Chapter 9. The Pivot: How to Deal When the Love Is Gone
• Chapter 10. Celebrate It! Memorialize Your Project
• Acknowledgments
• Index