Recent world events have left us — me, anyway — reeling, angry, confused. Though there is a glut of self-helpy, life-coachy accounts for artists, and though I read daily affirmations like “every creative act is one of resistance/rebellion/revolution” or “artists are the conscience of society,” I find myself battling cynicism. Insta-activism, and especially Insta-artivism, can be so facile. I could liken myself to the “diffuse public” that critic Ben Davis described in a recent article, a public that “squints at the wall label, and wonders, “Wait… how is this inscrutable object supposed to bring about the revolution, again?” But the better me, the one that finds cynicism too easy, wants to have an answer to that question. At this moment in time, does my art matter? Does yours? Can it do anything to lift this psychic toll? Can it, in fact, be revolutionary? #art8 Art8 - Webinars for Creatives! https://www.gallerieswest.ca/magazine/columns/artists-save-yourselves/