"One of the things we've learned from all these people in all these places is that artistic activism is not the preserve of the privileged. Artistic expression and cultural creativity flourish among communities who are marginalized within formal spheres of politics, law, and education."
- It's beautiful, but also saddening to consider that artistic activism is a form of cultural creativity for marginalized communities. It's saddening because why do we need to use art to express our thoughts? Why do we not have the privilege to speak about how unfair the system is without getting lash back? We as people should not have to rely on activist art as a form of expression. But in doing so, we have built a community that was able to cultivate art as a poetic justice for those that don't have a voice. To be able to bring people with art is beautiful, to bring people together with art that represents them is even more beautiful.
"We've learned that while culture is something we share, we don't all share the same culture."
- I love this quote for how truly spoken it is. Culture is all around us, especially in the depths of Jersey City. You can walk down a predominately Hispanic neighborhood, and then two blocks later you could end up on Indian Square. In Jersey City, you are bound to be exposed to a multitude of different cultures. Even though we can be exposed to different cultures, it does not mean we will agree with every culture. There are many traditions and depth to each culture. It can be hard to keep up with each culture, but that does not mean we can't respect each other's culture. We as people should support each other in our cultures, even if we do not represent that culture. Because that is how we succeed as people.
This art stood out to me because of the story behind it. There's nothing more funny than an oddity in your neighborhood. It's even more funny when many people from the community come together to express their disappointment in our government. This art is a depiction of a neighborhood gathering that took place incidentally. In their neighborhood, they saw a HUGE pothole that was filled with water. Soon neighbors started to gather with fishing poles and started fishing in the pothole. They had great laughs at how stupid it was that their city had not yet fixed the pothole and how bad it had gotten. This can serve as activist art in terms of how creative it is. It almost feels like the art is mocking the government for how poorly they treat their neighborhoods. How can they let potholes get so bad that it almost looks like a pond?
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