Art in Contempory Society
Lee Johnson

Art has a quality for propaganda that can be used to raise societal awareness of worthwhile issues, but that quality has largely been ignored by contemporary artists.  Instead contemporary art has become stale, conceited and pretentious.  We live in an age of interconnectedness and global-awareness yet art, especially ceramics, remains focused solely on the individual.  The only purpose art attempts to convey lies solely in subjective value.  It rarely sees beyond itself and the perspective of the bigger picture is lost as a result.  Staying in its comfort zone, art does not venture where it is needed and where it can break new grounds creatively.  It is time for art to change from an egocentric focus to one that matters for humanity and society.

Art to me is the fabrication of cognition, which has implications spanning further than any individual.  As artists we must utilize our ability to fabricate such powerful objects in order to elicit change in our society.  I have been utilizing this since my first series of pseudo-functional ceramics based on my understanding of the disarray of the human body and psyche during illness and hospitalization.  I have been incorporating concepts derived from medical ethics to create a series of ceramic sculptures based on the dehumanizing tendencies of our medical system and society’s misunderstanding of the potential that medicine holds for humanity.
When a person enters the health care realm they lose all control of their individuality and become just a complaint to be fixed, fueled, and discharged.  It’s not about the human; it’s about the profit.  The system nonchalantly wastes resources while marginalizing those without insurance as if they are not entitled to treatment.  Healthcare reform is a dominant talking point, and real solutions are within grasp, yet real innovation is never brought about.  Few people apart from those working in the medical industry can truly perceive how unfathomably ridiculous this problem is.  People expect action to be taken on their behalf, but the real power to provoke change lies with them, as does the responsibility.

I create art to reflect and affect the world in which I live.  Too many in our culture and within healthcare accept this unethical treatment and fear the ramifications of change.  I am trying to utilize art not just as a physical object that contains a mundane concept; I am attempting to actually enact a process of change through art.  I want people to perceive the potential, good and bad, that lies before them, and take part in directing where it leads them.

The pieces I create are intended to spark conversation, debate and controversy.  The propagandistic quality of the art is not intended to force you to believe as I do, but rather to perceive things that are often overlooked.  You may not agree with my point of view, regardless you have spent time revisiting these pertinent societal issues which demand immediate attention.  The core of my work intends to elicit the viewer to reflect upon their own thoughts and opinions.  The ramifications of indifference and stagnation are too big to be ignored.  I hope my works help to open your mind regarding the physicality of these issues.