Riis and Art as Social Change

Looking through Riis' images brought me back to a theme I've touched on a bit since the beginning of Amcon, and that is art as social change. Riis' images, while probably more photo-journalistic in intent than artistic, exposed the destitution of the tennements of New York city. His images coupled with his text introduced one half to how the other half lives. His activism brought awareness to the tennement situation and helped force a change in the lives of those people.

What I find interesting is how we can see the comparable ethnic arabesque (I like using that word as a descriptor) in Chicago as New York, and how that arabesque played out during the Colombian Exposition and the World's fair.  We may not have seen slums like from How the Other Half Lives in Perfect Cities, but we saw a similar clash of cultures.

And here comes the shameless plug! This weekend the student-run theater organization on campus is putting on Romeo and Juliet! (Performances are Friday and Sunday at 7:30 and Saturday at 3, tickets are 1 dollar and will be sold at the door.) I'm stage managing it, and Mike is actually assistant stage managing it! Why, you may ask, should I go? How does this have anything to do with art as social change? Well Amconner, this play has a twist. There are two Romeos and two Juliets, a male and a female each, and this show explores the relationship between love and gender, and how love is boundless in its expression. It doesn't matter whether it's the male Romeo and the Male Juliet crooning to one another from the balcony or garden, or if it's the male Juliet and the female Romeo getting married at the Friar's cell, in both circumstances there is love. So come see it! At the very least we hope that the production will start a conversation. Using a classic work we hope to convey a timeless message.