# data[].attributes.body
What did you learn from the photographer’s reflection?

Crafted an image to make that hardship felt, recognizing that a photograph’s power lies not in its "objectivity" but in its ability to stir empathy and action.

How did it show critical thinking or awareness of impact?

to move people to support migrant workers during the Great Depression.

How does this link to our course and why do we reflect as artists/designers?

This connects to our course by emphasizing that art and design are not neutral they carry purpose.we reflect to avoid accidental or harmful messages, refine our craft to better serve our goals, and hold ourselves accountable to the impact of our work

# data[].attributes.body
Were my scores what I expected?

It wasn't quite up to par because I had an unexpected hand injury that day, which affected my performance. If I had performed normally, I think my score would have been acceptable.

What feedback helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses?

I think my thesis needs to be strengthened, but my listening ability is also an advantage.

What skills do I need to focus on next?

Next, I should strengthen my practice of writing papers.

Did anything surprise me about the feedback or results?

Actually, I know I didn't perform well this time. Part of it was due to unexpected reasons. Of course, this isn't my true ability. The final exam will be the proof of my real strength.

# data[].attributes.body
How did I feel before, during, and after the mocks?

I feel that this project is much more difficult than the previous ones, especially in the reading section where there are many more questions. I'm a bit nervous because the time is quite tight and I'm afraid I won't be able to finish. But I've calmed down and am continuing to work at a steady pace.

What went well or felt manageable?

Listening comprehension went relatively smoothly for me. Although there were many reading comprehension questions, I could generally understand the main ideas, so it wasn't too difficult to answer them.

What was challenging or unexpected?

It should be the thesis. Writing a thesis requires a lot of time to think about how to write and how to argue. So I need time to sort it out and write it down completely.

Did I feel confident with timing, structure, or understanding the tasks?

Have a certain degree of confidence

Did I use any strategies I had practised?

Of course, all the examples sent by the tutor for regular homework are useful to me, so all the regular practice is helpful to me.

# data[].attributes.body
Description:
Today, our group gave a presentation about the film Green Book. We talked about its main messages. These include the need for empathy, friendship between people of different races, and the history of segregation. We also tried to link the movie to real events. We talked about the real Green Book travel guide and used ideas from the Time article.

Feelings:
I felt ready and happy with how we did the presentation. I also felt good because we helped each other during the talk. I was a little nervous at the beginning. But after we started, I felt more comfortable.

Evaluation:
The information we gave was strong. We used history to explain the message in the film. Each group member spoke in a clear way. Our slides helped people understand our points.
But we had some small problems. We talked too long about the story of the movie. Because of that, we did not have enough time for the key ideas. We were also not ready to answer questions from the audience.

Analysis:
These problems happened because we did not practice together as a full group. Each person worked on their part. But we did not have time to check everything as a team. If we had practiced together, we would have seen these problems. Then we could have fixed them.

Action Plan:
Next time, we will practice together as a group. One person can check the time. Another person can prepare for questions. If we do this, our talk will be better and more organized.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
what is the message what issue does it explore

# data[].attributes.headline
Summarising & Paraphrasing PCA  Note-7.31

# data[].attributes.subject
Summarising & Paraphrasing PCA  Note-7.31

# data[].attributes.body
Topic sentence: Art activism is a dynamic tool in social movements. It uses visual and emotional power to spread resistance and political messages.

Explanation: This topic sentence is chosen because it directly talks about the main part of the paragraph—"art activism". It also shows its two roles: being a tool in social movements and using visual or emotional impact to send resistance and political messages. It covers the key parts of the paragraph: murals as symbols of resistance, art forms like performance or installation art that fight injustice, and art’s ability to send political messages through emotion and visuals. By calling art activism "dynamic" and connecting its functions to "spreading resistance" and "political messages," it works well to set up specific examples (like the Black Lives Matter mural) and explanations that come next. It also makes sure the topic sentence connects well with the rest of the paragraph.

# data[].attributes.body
Description – What listening activities did you do?

I listened to the song “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. I also watched a short video. I read a short text about the song. I wrote some notes while I listened.

Feelings – How did you feel about listening/note-taking?

I felt okay. Some words were fast, and I did not know them. I stopped the video and played it again. Writing notes helped me understand more.

Evaluation – What went well? What was difficult?

I got the main idea. I could hear the feeling in his voice. That helped me. But some parts were too quick. I missed some words.

Analysis – Why did you feel that way?

I felt that way because I don’t know all the words. The singer had strong feelings. That made it harder to hear each word. But I kept listening. I still learned something.

# data[].attributes.body
Did you like the song? Why or why not?

Yes, I liked the song. It sounds very nice. Sam Cooke’s voice is smooth and full of feeling. I liked how he sang the words. They felt honest and real.

How did the song make you feel?

The song made me feel sad because it talks about hard times. But it also made me feel strong and hopeful. It showed that bad times don’t last forever.

What do you think the message is?

The message is that life is hard, but it will get better. People go through pain, but change will come. You should keep going even when life is unfair.

Why was it important for the Civil Rights Movement?

The song helped people feel strong. It gave them hope when they were tired or scared. It said that they were not alone. It became a voice for the people who wanted freedom and fairness.

Do you know any modern protest songs that are similar?

Yes. “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar is a song like this. It talks about pain and struggle. But it also says that things will be okay. It makes people feel brave and proud.

# data[].attributes.headline
What was the Civil Rights Movement in the USA?

# data[].attributes.subject
What was the Civil Rights Movement in the USA?

# data[].attributes.body
The American Civil Rights Movement was a mass protest. It opposed segregation and discrimination in the American South. The movement became famous in the mid-1950s.

This movement actually started earlier. Enslaved Africans and their descendants were already fighting against injustice many years ago. They want to be free and to be treated as equals.

After the American Civil War, blacks gained freedom. The United States adopted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, giving them some basic rights. But these rights are not really protected, so blacks still need to continue to fight for them.

In the 1950s and 1960s, people began to protest in a nonviolent way. Instead of fighting, they marched, gave speeches, and sit-ins. They do this so that public spaces are no longer segregated by race. These protests eventually led to the passage of new laws in the United States. These laws made blacks legally the same as whites.

Although important civil rights bills were passed in 1964 and 1965, some blacks felt that laws alone were not enough. They say there are still many issues to be addressed, such as poverty, political injustice, and inequality from the past. So, some people started using the term "freedom movement" instead of "civil rights movement".

# data[].attributes.body
Sam Cooke is an American singer and songwriter. He was born on January 22, 1931, in Mississippi. He died on December 11, 1964, in California at the age of 33. He was also known as Samuel Cook.

He started out singing in a gospel music group called Soul Stirrers. His voice was soft and quickly liked by many churchgoers. He sang songs such as "Nearer to Thee" and "Touch the Hem of His Garment", which were very famous.

In 1957, he began singing pop songs. Many people are not used to this transformation, but he succeeds. He wrote a lot of his own songs. His first hit song was "You Send Me". The song quickly became number one. He later also sang "Twistin' the Night Away" and "Shake". His voice has always been smooth and beautiful.

He also opened his own company. He makes his own music, records, and also manages other singers. He was one of the first black people to enter a white club to sing. These places did not previously welcome black performances.

His most famous song is "A Change Is going to Come". The song brings hope and says that people want a better life.

He was shot dead by the manager of a motel in 1964. He was only 33 years old when he died. The cause of his death is still in question.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Written submission template – Activism (Project Step 1) 1 (2)

# data[].attributes.headline
The Meaning and Importance of Sugar Skulls

# data[].attributes.subject
The Meaning and Importance of Sugar Skulls

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Mexican Roots

Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a holiday I've witnessed and lived my entire life. At first, it was only a day off elementary school, and either the previous day or the next one, there would be a school festival where we would read our "literary calaveras": satirical poems in which the author writes about Death coming to the world of the living to take someone to the land of the dead. Each classroom would make an altar or " ofrenda " for a Mexican celebrity, with everyone contributing the different elements it contains, and then the altars would be displayed outside each classroom to commemorate all the people who had contributed to our culture in one way or another.

As the years went by, some parts of the celebration remained (such as the making of an altar for a Mexican or Latin American celebrity), while some others were taken away (it eventually stopped being a day off school) and some others were added. When I grew older, we started going to the cemetery each November 2nd-the day we celebrate Día de Muertos in my hometown-or the following Saturday to spend some quality family time gathered around the tombstones of relatives who had passed on. It was here that I started noticing the small sugar skulls some people would lay on the tombstones of their loved ones.

Sugar skulls are an incredibly important part of an altar, but I found it strange that, of all the decorations we put up in an ofrenda, the sugar skulls were the one that people took to the cemetery, too. I figured it was the easiest one to carry and also the one that lasts the most in the elements. I didn't think too much of it, and it wasn't until years later that I took a moment to question this fact that had been part of my life for such a long time.

I was in college in Mexico City, and to get to school, I always had to walk by these vendor stands on my way to the subway. Soon enough, I started noticing some of these vendors start putting out sugar (and chocolate) skulls of all sizes on their displays: from skulls so small that I could carry at least five of them in my hand, to skulls so big that they were encased in plastic transparent boxes to facilitate carrying them. My first thought was that Día de Muertos was right around the corner, and my second thought was that I could buy some sugar and chocolate skulls to take to my aunt, whom I was going to visit during the weekend before Día de Muertos.

Seeing these sugar skulls displayed throughout all the vendor stands in the city made me pause for a moment. Throughout school, I had been taught of the meanings of the various offerings in a Day of the Dead altar. I knew why we put up papel picado, why we made a trail of petals of cempasúchil flowers (also known as Mexican marigolds), why we would add the favorite foods and drinks of the people the altar was made for, but the sugar skulls always seemed only decoration to me. As I mentioned before, I had never stopped to think about why they were such an indispensable element of an ofrenda. It seems a bit morbid to display skulls in an altar, even if those skulls are small, made of sugar, and edible, as well as quite tasty! Why would the offerings in an altar include these sugar skulls?

The Origin of Sugar Skulls

The reason goes all the way back to prehistoric times, when the skull was a predominant figure in Mesoamerican societies and cultures in various aspects and depictions. One of these depictions was the tzompantli, a wooden rack in which the skulls of war prisoners or human sacrifices were displayed. These civilizations believed in a spiritual life after death, and so these skulls were an offering to the god of the underworld, Mictlantecuhtli, who would assure a safe passage into the land he ruled. The tzompantli could also be an altar illustrating this journey from the terrestrial life into the spiritual one, and it's not uncommon to find sugar skulls that are decorated and colored with Mictlantecuhtli's face!

With the arrival of the Spanish conquerors and their religion, these traditions were lost, and yet a part of them was kept alive by maintaining the figure of the skull in a sweet confection that we can place in our altars as part of our offerings to the deceased.

These sugar skulls are made from a paste called alfeñique, which is a mixture of sugar, hot water, and lemon-among other ingredients-that creates a moldable mass akin to caramel. This paste allows for artisans to mold it into the shape of a skull to later decorate it for display. Of course, depending on where you see these sugar skulls, you'll find that a lot of them are made with neither alfeñique nor chocolate. While these sweet skulls are found all over Mexico, some states prefer to make these confections with other ingredients, such as almonds, honey (and covered with peanuts), amaranth (which is kind of like little balls of grain compressed into different shaped), and even gummies! The reason they come in different sizes, besides decoration purposes, is because small skulls are usually meant to represent children, while the bigger skulls represent adults and elders.

The Colorfulness of Sugar Skulls

Now, why are these somehow endearing skulls decorated with little icing details instead of just being the mold of the skull? Is it only so that they look cute instead of creepy? No, not exactly. Everything about Día de Muertos is bright and colorful, especially the decorations. If we're going to add small sugar skulls to an altar, these sugar skulls should be decorated with bright icing and shiny colored foil to simulate orange hair and red eyes and a giant white smile.

The reason a holiday revolving around death is so full of color instead of being gloomy and gray is because we celebrate the lives led by those who are now gone. It's not simply a day about mourning our loved ones and telling stories of them around their tombstones in the cemetery and our altars; it's a day about remembering their lives and the impact they had upon us, as well as keeping in mind that just because they're no longer with us doesn't mean that they're entirely gone, because we keep them alive in our hearts and memories.

Of course, sugar skulls can be decorated in all kinds of colors, but when people paint their faces as if they were sugar skulls themselves, the colors they use hold a special meaning. Red is used to represent our blood; orange to represent the sun; yellow to represent the Mexican marigold (which represents death itself); purple is pain (though in other cultures, it could also be richness and royalty); pink and white are hope, purity, and celebration; and finally, black represents the Land of the Dead.

Why Do Some Sugar Skulls Have Names Written on Them?

As I mentioned before, I spent my first Día de Muertos away from home with my aunt. That Friday, when I arrived at her place, she was setting up an altar of her own in the living room, rearranging boxes to act as shelves that would later be covered with a blanket or a tablecloth. She was putting up pictures of our deceased loved ones, leaving empty spaces to put their favorite drinks and dishes (closer to November 2nd so they wouldn't go spoiled or rotten), and placing a lot of sugar skulls of different sizes throughout the ofrenda. It was the first time I saw an altar with pictures of my family members, since we usually don't make an altar at home, and once again, these sugar skulls were what stood out to me, especially since some of them had a name written on them.

I had never seen these types of sugar skulls before, and so I asked my aunt why she had picked her sugar skulls with names rather than just general sugar skulls. She said that when you place a sugar skull with the name of someone who's passed on in your altar, you're honoring the memory of that person, just as you are with the rest of your offerings.

Giving someone who's still alive, whether they're a friend or a family member, a sugar skull with their name on it is also a regular custom around Día de Muertos. Some might find it strange, or they might think it's some sort of prank-after all, why would you give someone a sugar skull with their name on it if those are common part of an ofrenda? It's because that person is meaningful to you, and so you're reserving a spot for them in the underworld once they've gone on to the life after death. Besides, death is the only thing that's certain in this life, so don't be offended if someone ever gives you a sugar skull with your name written on it. They're not planning anything, they're just thinking about saving you a spot in the next life!

The tradition for you

If you're thinking about putting up an altar for your loved ones who are unfortunately no longer with us (don't worry, it's not only for Latin Americans!), don't forget to add those sugar skulls to commemorate them! And don't be afraid to add some sugar skulls with the names of people who are still alive and whom you care about. Día de Muertos is a celebration of life, and what better way to celebrate it than bringing together those of us who remain here and those who are kicking it up in the spiritual life?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Meaning and Importance of Sugar Skulls

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mexican Roots Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a holiday I've witnessed and lived my entire life. At first, it was only a day off elementary school, and either the previous day or the next one, there would be a school festival where we would read our "literary calaveras": satirical poems in which the author writes about Death coming to the world of the living to take someone to the land of the dead.

# data[].attributes.headline
The World of Perception — Comparative Philosophy of the Ancient Mayan Bird Totems

# data[].attributes.subject
The World of Perception — Comparative Philosophy of the Ancient Mayan Bird Totems

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Open Peer Review

New version

CC BY Lic. Info

Listen on

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The World of Perception - Comparative Philosophy of the Ancient Mayan Bird Totems

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Philosophy extends from literature to the study of art, religion, history and archaeology, and attempts to focus on the philosophical interpretation of the ancient Mayan bird totems. This article highlights the interaction between literature narratio...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The best selection of Royalty-Free Mayan Totem Vector Art, Graphics and Stock Illustrations. Download 1,700+ Royalty-Free Mayan Totem Vector Images.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In recent years, there has been increasing acknowledgement of the important role mental health plays in achieving global development goals, as illustrated by the inclusion of mental health in the Sustainable Development Goals. Depression is one of the leading causes of disability. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely - as much as two decades early - due to preventable physical conditions.

Despite progress in some countries, people with mental health conditions often experience severe human rights violations, discrimination, and stigma.

Many mental health conditions can be effectively treated at relatively low cost, yet the gap between people needing care and those with access to care remains substantial. Effective treatment coverage remains extremely low.

Increased investment is required on all fronts: for mental health awareness to increase understanding and reduce stigma; for efforts to increase access to quality mental health care and effective treatments; and for research to identify new treatments and improve existing treatments for all mental disorders. In 2019, WHO launched the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health (2019-2023): Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health to ensure access to quality and affordable care for mental health conditions in 12 priority countries to 100 million more people.

In 2022, WHO launched the World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental health for All.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Active Minds | Championing a New Era of Mental Health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mobilizing youth and young adults to lead a transformative movement in mental health, forever changing how it is valued and prioritized in society.

# data[].attributes.headline
Student Minds is the UK’s student mental health charity.

# data[].attributes.subject
Student Minds is the UK’s student mental health charity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
​We empower students and members of the university community to look after their own mental health, support others and create change.

​Together we will transform the state of student mental health so that all in higher education can thrive. Find out more about what we do.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Student Minds is the UK&#39;s student mental health charity. Peer interventions can change the state of student mental health. We deliver research-driven training and support to equip students to bring about positive change on their campus.

# data[].attributes.headline
art and activism collective of one-Mental health

# data[].attributes.subject
art and activism collective of one-Mental health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
the vacuum cleaner - art and activism collective of one.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
the vacuum cleaner is the name of a UK based artist who makes candid, provocative and playful art about the world being messed up.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
We’re Mind, the mental health charity | Mind

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We're Mind, the mental health charity. We're here to make sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Established in 1979, we are the only artist-founded museum in Los Angeles. We are dedicated to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art.

# data[].attributes.headline
War, lust, type! How Paula Scher's typographic affair with The Public Theater redefined our culture

# data[].attributes.subject
War, lust, type! How Paula Scher's typographic affair with The Public Theater redefined our culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Paula Scher's groundbreaking identity and graphic campaign for New York's Public Theater set a new bar for typography in the 90s.

"Using unorthodox spacing, mixing font colors and weights, and employing uncommon and often historic typefaces, Scher's text-heavy poster presents a large amount of information in a dynamic and expressive way"

"Fusing highbrow and lowbrow, this eclectic and irreverent approach signals Paula Scher's affiliation with the New Wave graphic designers of the 1980s and 1990s, who rejected modernism's neat grid and cool effect. Scher's identity for the Public Theater places emphasis on the word 'public' to position the institution as an affordable and accessible venue for all."

It all started back in 1994, a year when 's partner Paula Scher designed her very fist distinctive posters for New York's annual Shakespeare in the Park events by The Public Theatre. "The Public Theatre identity is based on being extremely loud and visible and urban" told Scher in an interview with Hillman Curtis of her accomplishment to create "the first American Shakespeare poster ever."

Pentagram X Public Theater creative synergy would eventually influence much of the graphic design created for theatrical promotion and for cultural institutions in general. "The original identity responded to The Public's mission to provide accessible and innovative performances, creating a graphic language that reflects street typography in its extremely active, unconventional and almost graffiti-like juxtaposition" notes Pentagram.

"The 1995 posters Pentagram designed for The Public Theater's production of Savion Glover's Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk featured the wood typefaces used throughout The Public's identity. The play's title and theater logos surrounded the tap artist in a typographical be-bop, like urban noise. After this campaign, The Public's typographic style popped up everywhere, from magazine layouts to advertising for other shows. In fact, the whole style of theater advertising changed and everything began to be displayed in blocky wood type in all caps. The Public's campaigns have had to continuously change to stay fresh in the city's highly competitive theatrical market."

"Individually the posters tend to reflect what is going on culturally at the time, for example posters for the 1995 performances of 'The Tempest' and 'Troilus and Cressida' carried the political and promotional message 'Free Will' that was not only an advertisement for the free performances, but also a rallying cry to arts supporters to exercise their public influence as that year a conservative Republican Congress was threatening federal funding of the arts."

"The 1996 poster for the productions of 'Henry V' and 'Timon of Athens' afforded Pentagram some of the most playful typography of the series, combining handwriting with wood type. The typography of the 1998 poster emphasized the melodrama of the two plays featured, Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline' and Thornton Wilder's 'Skin of Our Teeth'. While winking at news headlines during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the posters for 'The Taming of the Shrew' and 'Tartuffe' singled out the words 'lust,' 'shrew' and 'tart' in a degraded fluorescent red.... In 2003, after the invasion of Iraq, a poster for 'Henry V' featured a quote from the play ('We doubt not of a fair and lucky war...')."

Eventually in 2005, the year which marked the Public's fiftieth anniversary, a rebranding happened. The Public Theater's identity was redrawn using the font Akzidenz Grotesk. By 2008, Pentagram updated the identity and this time the letterforms have been redrawn using the Hoefler & Frere-Jones font Knockout.

"The new, more refined system retained the active nature of the original but provides more structure, while the change from a vertical to horizontal organization has the effect of making the logo more architectural" notes the agency.

Pentagram's new visual language for the Public Theater was first seen in the 2008 Shakespeare in the Park posters which utilize the strict 90° angles of a De Stijl-inspired grid. With the bold Victorian woodblock type retained, the space is organized by angled printers rules, "a distinctive throwback that adds structure while it references woodblock type."

"I operate really strongly on my instincts" said Scher of the way she creates magic.

"If I don't get it on the first crack, I get it on the second. And if I don't get it in a second, I almost never get it. Because it's been a very intuitive process for me: I've never been a refiner; my best work has been big bold strokes that came very quickly."

A bold, inspirational, overdose of type on stage follows in the gallery.

Please applause!
All images via Pentagram

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
War, lust, type! How Paula Scher's typographic affair with The Public Theater redefined our culture - TypeRoom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Paula Scher's groundbreaking identity and graphic campaign for New York's Public Theater set a new bar for typography in the 90s. "Using unorthodox spacing, mixing font colors and weights, and...

# data[].attributes.headline
I Must Protest! Peter Kennard & Visual Dissent

# data[].attributes.subject
I Must Protest! Peter Kennard & Visual Dissent

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
I Must Protest! Peter Kennard & Visual Dissent | Poster House

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
“When political art is good it starts to be really interwoven with reality. The thing about that now in a time of grim politics, it just ends up being devastating”—Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, the Financial Times, June 11, 2025

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
David Shrigley is a British visual artist. This is his web site with his stuff on it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Yayoi Kusama’s Depictions of Mental Health

# data[].attributes.subject
Yayoi Kusama’s Depictions of Mental Health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Researchers have long been passionate about investigating the invisible link between mental health and creativity. It's no secret that some of the most famous artists of all time have been plagued by delusions and hallucinations. Findings and some mixed beliefs agree that the main parallel between creativity and mental illness is their deviation from normative thinking. The strong relationship between these two concepts perhaps led to the existence of the most original artists in history. One of the greatest inventors of the twentieth century, Nikola Tesla, suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder with numerous rituals that kept him on the edge of society. Joan Miró, like Van Gogh, experienced his first symptoms of depression when he was just 18 years old. A contemporary of Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, creator of The Scream, was diagnosed with various diagnoses, including depression, anxiety disorder, and bipolar mood disorder. Many creative names such as Virginia Woolf, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, Marina Abramovic have struggled with similar diseases as well as various stigma and prejudices throughout their lives.

The question of whether it is a coincidence that names who produce such brilliant works are prone to mental illnesses is one of the important questions of researchers. When we read the biographies of most successful artists, we see that they face a number of common worldly problems such as lifelong pain, misunderstanding and poverty. Others, like Basquiat, fell victim to a series of tragic influences, as they rose to fame and fortune too young to control their talents. Psychologist Perpetua Neo, who conducts psychopathology research on artists, draws attention to artists who have been subjected to psychological and physical torture throughout their lives in an interview with Insider: "Many of them use their tortured selves to create meaning and convey it through art."

There may not be an artist who is more speculated and talked about than Yayoi Kusama with her spiritual ups and downs in the art world. Although she is said to be the pioneer of pop art by art writers, she does not fully fit any movement or style, as she developed an extremely personal art that is a strong expression of her inner world. After a life full of psychological distress, panic attacks, hallucinations and suicide attempts, she defines her dozens of valuable works as "psychosomatic art". Kusama herself made the newest definition of art, which is the product of deep spiritual wars, in which many names such as Munch were categorized that art under the name of expressionism for years.

Yayoi Kusama's life is well known to those who follow the artist's career. Raised by an authoritarian mother and a depressed father, Kusama discovered her trademark "infinity web" stained spots at the age of ten. Traumatized by the hopeless environment of post-war Japan, the young artist began suffering from a variety of mental health problems from childhood, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and hallucinations. It was also during this period that she began to have hallucinations, that she described as "patterns that move, multiply, devour everything around her and eventually consume her". Her art, which started with repetitive patterns, was while an expression of mental illnesses, also, it became a tool she used as a way out of her deep psychological turmoil.

Another trauma from Yayoi's childhood left deep marks on her life and art. Her hatred of men and her sex phobia have created "soft sculptures", which are the signature elements of her art. Kusama grew up in a loveless marriage, in a conservative environment. Moreover, being forced by her mother to spy on her father's extramarital affairs and witnessing many betrayals over and over again has given little Yayoi a lifelong trauma.

Kusama decides to go to New York to start a new life. On the plane, she remembers looking out the window and seeing the ever-expanding nets in the ocean, turning them into endless azure nets in the Pacific Ocean. "Pacific Ocean" (1960) is one of the first paintings of the artist directly related to her hallucinations. In the 1960s, she joined the avant-garde movement that influenced New York and began to appear with big names such as Eva Hesse and Andy Warhol.

Kusama's artistic life has had its ups and downs in parallel with her mental health. Kusama's rising success is overshadowed by the rapidly rising male-dominated art world in 1970s America. Despite all her connections and reputation, she had financial difficulties and struggled with mental illness for years. She explains that she does not see herself as an artist; she only deals with art to cope with her illness.

She says that the artworks she produces are due to hallucinations that only she can see, and therefore are merely copies of her hallucinations and obsessive images. This process led to her return to Japan in 1973. After attempting suicide after returning to Japan, Kusama later agrees to stay in a clinic with an art therapy provider. The artist, who has lived in this psychiatric institution for more than 40 years, spent the most productive period of her life here.

Yayoi's abstract expressionist and conceptual art with highly graphic, colorful, futuristic elements started to gain momentum from the 1990s to the 2000s, as it was compatible with the "zeitgeist" of the Internet age. Bursting with Instagram frenzy, Infinity Rooms allows you to simultaneously lose your sense of identity and self in an infinity of repetitive imagery that evokes the viewer's universe This brilliant idea is actually a product of her difficult mental illness. Throughout her life, Yayoi Kusama showed symptoms consistent with psychosis and possible schizophrenia, often associated with hallucinations and a fragmentation of the person's sense of self, leading to anxiety and paranoia, although her specific diagnosis was not disclosed. One of the common symptoms of this condition is thought projection. In other words, the person is confused as whether their thoughts are their own or whether they were placed there by other people. Yayoi incorporated this fear of disintegration into her creative production as a means of communicating with all people, rather than letting go of it. By embedding this frightening feeling into beautiful images, she created a therapeutic art space for herself.

Kusama not only left a deep mark on the contemporary art scene, but also pioneered the breaking of taboos on mental health. She went over her trauma and her fears and never hid it. While receiving treatment in the clinic where she voluntarily stayed, she continued to produce. Yayoi Kusama used her art to heal and heal, not to go insane.

Researchers have long been passionate about investigating the invisible link between mental health and creativity. It's no secret that some of the most famous artists of all time have been plagued by delusions and hallucinations. Findings and some mixed beliefs agree that the main parallel between creativity and mental illness is their deviation from normative thinking. The strong relationship between these two concepts perhaps led to the existence of the most original artists in history. One of the greatest inventors of the twentieth century, Nikola Tesla, suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder with numerous rituals that kept him on the edge of society. Joan Miró, like Van Gogh, experienced his first symptoms of depression when he was just 18 years old. A contemporary of Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, creator of The Scream, was diagnosed with various diagnoses, including depression, anxiety disorder, and bipolar mood disorder. Many creative names such as Virginia Woolf, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, Marina Abramovic have struggled with similar diseases as well as various stigma and prejudices throughout their lives.

The question of whether it is a coincidence that names who produce such brilliant works are prone to mental illnesses is one of the important questions of researchers. When we read the biographies of most successful artists, we see that they face a number of common worldly problems such as lifelong pain, misunderstanding and poverty. Others, like Basquiat, fell victim to a series of tragic influences, as they rose to fame and fortune too young to control their talents. Psychologist Perpetua Neo, who conducts psychopathology research on artists, draws attention to artists who have been subjected to psychological and physical torture throughout their lives in an interview with Insider: "Many of them use their tortured selves to create meaning and convey it through art."

There may not be an artist who is more speculated and talked about than Yayoi Kusama with her spiritual ups and downs in the art world. Although she is said to be the pioneer of pop art by art writers, she does not fully fit any movement or style, as she developed an extremely personal art that is a strong expression of her inner world. After a life full of psychological distress, panic attacks, hallucinations and suicide attempts, she defines her dozens of valuable works as "psychosomatic art". Kusama herself made the newest definition of art, which is the product of deep spiritual wars, in which many names such as Munch were categorized that art under the name of expressionism for years.

Yayoi Kusama's life is well known to those who follow the artist's career. Raised by an authoritarian mother and a depressed father, Kusama discovered her trademark "infinity web" stained spots at the age of ten. Traumatized by the hopeless environment of post-war Japan, the young artist began suffering from a variety of mental health problems from childhood, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and hallucinations. It was also during this period that she began to have hallucinations, that she described as "patterns that move, multiply, devour everything around her and eventually consume her". Her art, which started with repetitive patterns, was while an expression of mental illnesses, also, it became a tool she used as a way out of her deep psychological turmoil.

Another trauma from Yayoi's childhood left deep marks on her life and art. Her hatred of men and her sex phobia have created "soft sculptures", which are the signature elements of her art. Kusama grew up in a loveless marriage, in a conservative environment. Moreover, being forced by her mother to spy on her father's extramarital affairs and witnessing many betrayals over and over again has given little Yayoi a lifelong trauma.

Kusama decides to go to New York to start a new life. On the plane, she remembers looking out the window and seeing the ever-expanding nets in the ocean, turning them into endless azure nets in the Pacific Ocean. "Pacific Ocean" (1960) is one of the first paintings of the artist directly related to her hallucinations. In the 1960s, she joined the avant-garde movement that influenced New York and began to appear with big names such as Eva Hesse and Andy Warhol.

Kusama's artistic life has had its ups and downs in parallel with her mental health. Kusama's rising success is overshadowed by the rapidly rising male-dominated art world in 1970s America. Despite all her connections and reputation, she had financial difficulties and struggled with mental illness for years. She explains that she does not see herself as an artist; she only deals with art to cope with her illness.

She says that the artworks she produces are due to hallucinations that only she can see, and therefore are merely copies of her hallucinations and obsessive images. This process led to her return to Japan in 1973. After attempting suicide after returning to Japan, Kusama later agrees to stay in a clinic with an art therapy provider. The artist, who has lived in this psychiatric institution for more than 40 years, spent the most productive period of her life here.

Yayoi's abstract expressionist and conceptual art with highly graphic, colorful, futuristic elements started to gain momentum from the 1990s to the 2000s, as it was compatible with the "zeitgeist" of the Internet age. Bursting with Instagram frenzy, Infinity Rooms allows you to simultaneously lose your sense of identity and self in an infinity of repetitive imagery that evokes the viewer's universe This brilliant idea is actually a product of her difficult mental illness. Throughout her life, Yayoi Kusama showed symptoms consistent with psychosis and possible schizophrenia, often associated with hallucinations and a fragmentation of the person's sense of self, leading to anxiety and paranoia, although her specific diagnosis was not disclosed. One of the common symptoms of this condition is thought projection. In other words, the person is confused as whether their thoughts are their own or whether they were placed there by other people. Yayoi incorporated this fear of disintegration into her creative production as a means of communicating with all people, rather than letting go of it. By embedding this frightening feeling into beautiful images, she created a therapeutic art space for herself.

Kusama not only left a deep mark on the contemporary art scene, but also pioneered the breaking of taboos on mental health. She went over her trauma and her fears and never hid it. While receiving treatment in the clinic where she voluntarily stayed, she continued to produce. Yayoi Kusama used her art to heal and heal, not to go insane.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Life Between Going Crazy and Healing: Yayoi Kusama

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Yayoi Kusama herself made the newest definition of psychosomatic art, which is the product of deep spiritual wars.

# data[].attributes.headline
THE DARK SIDE OF HUMANITY l MARINA ABRAMOVIC'S RHYTHM 0 PERFORMANCE

# data[].attributes.subject
THE DARK SIDE OF HUMANITY l MARINA ABRAMOVIC'S RHYTHM 0 PERFORMANCE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
THE DARK SIDE OF HUMANITY l MARINA ABRAMOVIC'S RHYTHM 0 PERFORMANCE

# data[].attributes.headline
Young people in England’s coastal towns three times more likely to have a mental health condition-PS1

# data[].attributes.subject
Young people in England’s coastal towns three times more likely to have a mental health condition-PS1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Young people in England’s coastal towns three times more likely to have a mental health condition

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
They are suffering disproportionately and without help, say researchers, and unless they are given a voice, problems will continue to mount up

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you walk into the Royal Academy in London today, you'll be confronted by a table. Set up like an altar, and draped in a white cloth, it has on it 69 objects. Some are associated with pleasure - a glass, a candle, a rose, a hairbrush, a mirror, a comb, a lipstick. Others administer pain - a gun, a bullet, chains, an axe, a saw, an array of sharp knives.

It's from Rhythm 0, a performance art piece by Marina Abramović - who has become the first woman to have a solo exhibition in all of the museum's main galleries (they have been open since 1768). First performed in Naples in 1974, the work saw Abramović declare herself as the object. She then instructed the audience to use the props on her as they wished.

The performance lasted six hours. At first, her audience was passive. But, as time went on, they turned violent, with people using the objects to cut into her skin, rip her clothes, stick a knife between her legs, and attach a piece of paper to her body that read "VILE". Surrounding the table at the RA, there are photographs of the performance. They show - predominantly - men playing with the objects, touching Abramović's body, ogling and laughing at her with their friends, as she stands there alone, tears filling her eyes.

Impact ... the table of objects at the Royal Academy. Photograph: David Parry/Royal Academy of Arts

While the photographs made me feel discomfort and anguish, seeing the vast table hit even harder. It's a monument not just to Abramović's fearlessness and resilience, the way she tested her mental and physical pain thresholds to extremes, but also to her trust in the audience. A number of her other performance pieces have been recreated with younger artists, but Rhythm 0 has not. I doubt it would be allowed, which leads me to question - can we still not trust people when they are placed in a position of power?

The work is part of a larger series of Rhythms constructed in the early 1970s that look at the concept of control. The performances draw on Abramović's strict upbringing in postwar Yugoslavia, raised by parents who were high-ranking officials in the socialist government. "I grew up with incredible control, discipline and violence at home. Everything was extreme," she has said. The Rhythms explore the tightening of rules in an authoritarian society, but also what it is like to be a woman in a deeply misogynist culture.

Rhythm 0 makes us think about the hostility women still face

Fast forward to today, and Rhythm 0 makes us think about the hostility women still face: the constant threat of violence and danger, and the abuse of our bodies by the powerful. Take the Russell Brand sexual allegations, or the news that in the Metropolitan police, an authority that we trust to protect us and patrol our streets, there are 143 officers currently under investigation for domestic abuse, of whom 42 are still working.

We hear such stories so frequently that we can become numbed to them, not fully comprehending the reality of what the victims endure. As a longtime follower of Abramović, I had become used to the images of Rhythm 0. But after witnessing the table, I had a visceral sense of what she put herself through; the terror of having your body violated.

As some of the reviews of her RA show revealed, Abramović's performance art practice still invites scepticism, even disgust - reactions to which she is long accustomed. She told me: "When I started in the early 70s, everyone said we were crazy. 'This is not art, it's nothing.'" By using the body as her medium, Abramović shows just how close art can get to life. As spectators of her work, we are also implicated in the reality of what people endure. Rhythm 0 is a shattering reminder of the people who live in fear of abuse daily.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Marina Abramović's shocking Rhythm 0 performance shows why we still cannot trust people in power

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 1974, Marina Abramović dared an audience to use chains, lipstick and knives on her body - and their willingness to abuse her revealed frightening truths about misogyny

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It has intrinsic and instrumental value and is integral to our well-being.

At any one time, a diverse set of individual, family, community and structural factors may combine to protect or undermine mental health. Although most people are resilient, people who are exposed to adverse circumstances - including poverty, violence, disability and inequality - are at higher risk of developing a mental health condition.

Many mental health conditions can be effectively treated at relatively low cost, yet health systems remain significantly under-resourced and treatment gaps are wide all over the world. Mental health care is often poor in quality when delivered. People with mental health conditions often also experience stigma, discrimination and human rights violations.

# data[].attributes.headline
The power of protest art in the mental health movement-PS1

# data[].attributes.subject
The power of protest art in the mental health movement-PS1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The power of protest art in the mental health movement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Can it really make a difference? — Misdiagnosis, benefit cuts, stigma and violence: a new exhibition tackles the biggest issues facing the UK mental…

# data[].attributes.body
Will

When you decide to do something right at the moment.

"I’ll take care of that."

When you guess what will happen in the future.

"I think it will rain later."

When you offer to do something or promise it.

"I’ll help you with your homework."

Used in polite requests.

"Will you pass me the salt?"

Going to

When something is already decided or planned.

"I’m going to visit my grandmother next weekend."

When you predict something based on what you see.

"Look at those clouds! It’s going to rain."

I sometimes confuse when to use "will" and "going to" for predictions. If I guess, I use "will." If I see signs, I use "going to."

I might say "It will rain," but it’s better to say "It’s going to rain," because of the clouds.

# data[].attributes.headline
 ‘How can art be active?’ Guerrilla Girls

# data[].attributes.subject
 ‘How can art be active?’ Guerrilla Girls

# data[].attributes.body
1. The issue their artwork addressed:
The Guerrilla Girls' artwork focused on sexism and racism in the art world, especially the lack of women artists and artists of color in galleries, museums, and exhibitions. They pointed out how art markets mostly supported white male artists.

2. How they used their art form to raise awareness or create change:
The Guerrilla Girls used clear, direct posters, numbers, and pictures to show these problems. They mixed humor with facts to make their message easy to understand. They put up posters in busy areas and later gave talks and led workshops, making people pay attention. Their use of masks and bold designs helped make their message stand out.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Guerrilla Girls cannot stop counting. Since 1985, this anonymous feminist collective has been keeping tabs on the inequalities of the art world and beyond. The group has dubbed itself the "Conscience of the Art World," through a range of media. They have used posters, billboards, street banners, video projections, exhibitions, performances, workshops, and books. The 2020 publication Guerrilla Girls: The Art of Behaving Badly, surveys 35 years of activism that has unapologetically attacked art institutions worldwide. Accomplished and outspoken, the Guerrilla Girls have been responsible for effecting change through relentless in-your-face tactics. Let's look into their feminist interventions that have kept the art world on its toes.

The Conscience of the Art World

In 1985, the Guerrilla Girls sprang to action in New York City. The catalyst was an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The title of the exhibition was An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture and Kynaston McShine was the Curator. Of the one hundred and sixty-nine artists in this exhibition, only thirteen were women artists. Only eight were artists of color. Confronted by the blatant oversight of this skewed survey, the curator said that anyone not in the exhibition should re-examine HIS career.

The suggestion that there was a dearth of good art by women and artists of color prompted protesters to demonstrate in front of the museum. But to no avail. The Women's Caucus for the Arts had organised the protest. However, some of the women artists who participated, thought that the protests were ineffective. They correctly argued that they were not being heard. The barrier-breaking artists' demand for equal rights for women and artists of color of the previous decade had made some headway. But clearly more work was needed.

Beginnings

A group of frustrated women artists met shortly after the MoMA protests. They wanted to devise a direct course of action that the gatekeepers of the New York City art world could not ignore. Thus Guerrilla Girls was founded to expose the sexist and racist practices of the local contemporary art scene. This scene was driven by art market trends that rewarded few and excluded many. The anonymous group of feminists took aim at museums, art dealers, art collectors, galleries, auction houses and the art critics.

In the spirit of guerrilla warfare, a team of Guerrilla Girls wore masks to protect their identities. Overnight, they plastered posters attacking the contemporary art world across the SoHo gallery district of downtown New York City. These announced the arrival of an anonymous collective calling themselves the "Guerrilla Girls, The Conscience of the Art World." This first round of posters took aim at the biased practices of art galleries and the complacency of artists (mostly men) these galleries represented. People took notice and the response was swift.

In today's parlance, this inaugural poster campaign went viral. The Guerrilla Girls subsequently set up a post office box and phone number to receive inquiries, feedback and requests. Before long they became the focus of interest and outrage. They also received demands for more from institutions across this country and from around the world.

Humor That Packs a Punch

The Guerrilla Girls use humor to unpack uncomfortable truths and to make transparent the persistence of sexist and racist practices. Their combination of raw statistics, clever text and bold graphics underscores the undeniable inequalities that exist. These were anything but funny. From the outset, the Guerrilla Girls have been counting and keeping track of the representation/presentation of women artists and artists of color across art museums and commercial art galleries. Along with their precise accounting skills, the group has highlighted other facts. Those in power preferred to remain hidden from the public; they did not want their actions spelled out in bold and easy-to-digest materials.

The Guerrilla Girls also exposed the closed network between museum board members/art collectors, the commercial gallery system and auction houses. They point out the corrupt behavior of museum board members who capitalize on their positions to increase the value of their private art collections. They called out members of museum boards for profiting from a range of things. One was mass incarceration. Another, the production of weapons of mass destruction. Also the depletion of natural resources and other dubious sources of wealth.

Despite their brash and unapologetic approach, the Guerrilla Girls' wit and knack for statistics caught the attention of institutions and public agencies. It was not long before their poster campaigns ballooned into numerous commissions. They received invitations to participate in speaking engagements, workshops, billboards and more from the very institutions that they had originally targeted. The group agreed to accept these invitations on the condition that they could criticize these institutions and agencies without compromise. With these understandings in place, the Guerrilla Girls' message has benefited from extensive visibility around the globe. Venues have included art institutions and public spaces.

Who Are The Guerrilla Girls?

The Guerrilla Girls began as an anonymous group of women artists who decided to take action against the art world. The original members were at various stages of their careers. However, the New York City art scene was surprisingly small, and they did not want to risk damaging their careers through participation in the group. That is why they decided to hide their identities.

The urban legend is that there have been thousands of Guerrilla Girls over the years. But, in reality, participation in the group has been fluid. Some members have floated in for a number of years and others for a couple of weeks - or less. A core group, averaging around six of the original members, has steered the group from 1985 to today. These members have been responsible for the lion's share of the work and appearances. We might imagine that is this group that has maintained the momentum and given consistency. But the various additional members have brought fresh material/perspectives and a diverse sense of self-awareness to the collective.

Disguises

Shortly after the Guerrilla Girls posters appeared in downtown Manhattan, the group received requests to make appearances, give talks and lead workshops. Founding members felt strongly that they should remain anonymous. Hence they decided to hide their identities behind a gorilla mask. This idea arose from a group meeting, when the note taker incorrectly wrote "gorilla" for "guerrilla". The gorilla mask is now iconic and has become the face of the collective. It protects the identities of members, both in print and in real life, as they travel the world, appear on television and act as fearless feminists.

In addition to the gorilla mask, members of this group conceal their real-life identities. These living women artists use the names of dead woman artists, resurrecting forgotten or over-looked figures from the past. Two founding members of Guerrilla Girls who remain active today, go by the pseudonyms of Frida Kahlo and Käthe Kollwitz. Another founding member took the title of Guerrilla Girl #1. Other members of the collective have masqueraded as Romaine Brooks, Georgia O'Keefe, Rosalba Carriera, Meta Fuller, Lee Krasner, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Anaïs Nin, Tina Modotti, Gertrude Stein, Ana Mendieta, Alice Neel, Eva Hesse, Elizabeth Vigée LeBrun, Liubov Popov, Claude Cahun. And the list goes on and on as a reminder that there have been many great women artists.

Group Membership

However, these disguising pseudonyms have led many to question the actual diversity of the Guerrilla Girls. They have responded that the founding group were primarily straight, white women. However, over time the group has become a diverse collective of artists who identify as women.

Membership of the group is by invitation only. Although hundreds of women have participated over the years, two of the original founders, Frida Kahlo and Käthe Kollwitz have remained at the helm of this juggernaut. Given the duration of the collective's activism - dating back to 1985 - the group is now multi-generational. Currently working alongside them is a young woman of color. She was recruited about fifteen years ago and goes by the name of the Pakistani artist Zubeida Agha. These three members appear to be the most visible and active participants at the moment.

The Banana Split

The Guerrilla Girls have not been immune to internal strife, growing pains and tensions. These led to what has comically been referred to as the banana split in 2000. Beneath this light-hearted characterization lay serious disagreements within the collective and brought about the formation of three independent groups that remain active today. Guerrilla Girls, Inc., as led by Frida Kahlo and Käthe Kollwitz, is a continuation of the original group whose activities are the focus of this article. They are also surveyed in the current publication of Guerrilla Girls: The Art of Behaving Badly.

Guerrilla Girls Broadband, Inc. is a separate group, committed to social activism and public engagements online. It wholeheartedly embraces new technologies, communities and conversations made possible by the Internet.

The third group, Guerrilla Girls on Tour, Inc., devotes itself to fighting discrimination in the world of theatre.

The early 2000s was a contentious period that resulted in the founding members of Guerrilla Girls, Inc. filing a federal lawsuit against the two breakout groups. They wanted to formalize ownership and rights over the work of the collective. The members involved in these proceedings went on public record using their real names.

Publications

Guerrilla Girls, Inc. retained credit for the publication of Hot Flashes From The Guerrilla Girls. They received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to create a feminist watchdog journal in 1993-1994. They used this opportunity to scrutinize the New York Times' reporting of the art world. From this they concluded that art coverage was "too male, too pale, too stale and too Yale." The second issue rated museums around the U.S. for their representations of women and artists of color. They rated the most prominent institutions of New York City at the lowest level, "The Pits," and made the following prediction.

Guerrilla Girls Predict That Museums In The East Will Have A White Male Winter. And A White Male Spring, Summer & Fall.
Hot Flashes Newsletter, Vol. 1 Nos. 2 & 3, page 1, 1994. Guerrilla Girls.

Other Guerrilla Girls, Inc. publications include Confessions Of The Guerrilla Girls (1995), The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion To The History of Western Art (1998), Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls' Illustrated Guide To Female Stereotypes (2003), The Guerrilla Girls' Art Museum Activity Book (2004, updated 2012), and The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How It Was Cured: From Ancient Times Until Now (2016).

Guerilla Girls: The Art of Behaving Badly

The recent publication of Guerrilla Girls: The Art of Behaving Badly is a survey by the Guerrilla Girls of their work from 1985 to the present day. It is laid out in chronological order. Those who have put the book together have let the reproductions of their text-driven work do the talking. They have not included essays by any of the participants or from scholars in the field. For some this may come as a disappointment. However, for others, it will be a pleasure to move through this group's history independently.

In typical Guerrilla Girl fashion, the book concludes with a pop-out gorilla mask. This invites the reader to tap into their inner Guerrilla Girl. The collective has had a long history of balancing humor with tragic truth as has been evidenced in numerous projects over many years. This substantial publication, in the age of Covid, could not have appeared at a better time. It acts as a portable retrospective exhibition of the group's work. In addition, it gives the reader the opportunity to travel with the Guerilla Girls through their energetic history.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Guerrilla Girls, Inc. - 35 Years and Counting

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Guerrilla Girls cannot stop counting. Since 1985, this anonymous feminist collective has been keeping tabs on the inequalities of the art world and beyond. The group has dubbed itself the "Conscience of the Art World," through a range of media. They have used posters, billboards, street banners, video projections, exhibitions, performances, workshops, and books.

# data[].attributes.body
Behavioral Intervention Project: "Invisible Influence"

Did the AI help you narrow down your topic? If yes, how?

Yes, the AI helped narrow down my topic. It suggested a few concrete themes in behavioral art. These themes are relevant to social change and activism:

Behavioral Impact and Social Norms: The idea of how behavioral art shows and challenges hidden social norms and behaviors was key. It helped me focus on issues like unconscious bias or group pressure.

Performance Art and Personal Interaction: The suggested works (like those by Marina Abramović, Joseph Beuys, Tino Sehgal) highlighted the power of direct, personal engagement. This engagement can change perceptions and behaviors. It matches my interest in how anonymous activism or interactive actions can bring real change.

Art as a Tool for Critique and Reflection: The AI focused on how art critiques societal issues (such as power dynamics, race, and gender). This gave useful context. It helped me see how performance and behavior-based art can be used in my research or project. They can expose inequities and push for change.

What existing activist or art projects did the AI mention?

Guerrilla Girls

Satirical Posters and Anonymous

Collective Action

Participatory Performance and Social Sculpture

Explanation: Beuys' mysterious, ritual-like performance involved explaining pictures to a dead hare. It pushes the limits of communication and understanding in art. This idea of using ritual and symbolic actions could work for campus activism. It can create actions that make people deal with uncomfortable truths.

Participatory Art

Sehgal’s works, like "This Progress", get participants involved in active dialogue and self-reflection. They are perfect for projects that aim to reveal hidden truths about social and cultural behaviors.

How Do These Works Relate to the Issue I’m Working On?

The works mentioned by the AI connect directly to activism and behavioral art. This is especially true in spaces like campuses. There, social norms, gender, and race often work behind the scenes.

# data[].attributes.body
1. What do you find interesting or exciting about this topic?

What excites me most is how activism translates ideas into tangible actions—there’s a raw, purposeful energy in turning concern into effort. Specifically, the racial issues fascinates me: it’s a quiet yet powerful mirror of human cultural diversity, tying together history, tradition, and identity in a way that feels deeply human.

2. What do you find difficult or unfamiliar?

The complexity of navigating its many subfields was tough at first—health, race, education, and more overlap in ways I hadn’t expected. Also, understanding the nuances of how activism operates differently across cultures (especially in contexts I haven’t experienced firsthand) feels unfamiliar.

3. Is it unusual to talk about these topics coming from your country?

Yes, in some ways. There’s a general wariness around open discussions of activism here, given the perceived risks, so bringing up such topics can feel out of the ordinary.

4. How does it feel to study this topic?

It’s a mix of fulfillment and challenge. Fulfilling because it’s about tangible, meaningful efforts to shape change, but challenging due to the breadth of issues and the weight of their real-world implications. Yet I’m glad to dive into it—there’s a sense of purpose in exploring something that touches on justice and culture.

5. Which issues speak to you most?

5. Which issues speak to you most?

Racial issues resonate with me deeply. They cut to the core of human dignity—questions of whether we truly see each other as equals, regardless of the color of our skin. It’s painful to see how systemic biases or ignorance can create divides, but it’s also inspiring to witness movements that push for understanding and equity. Studying it makes me reflect on how small acts of empathy, alongside larger advocacy, can chip away at those divides. What speaks to me most is the idea that addressing racial issues isn’t just about “fixing” one group, but healing the fabric of communities as a whole.

6. Have you ever taken part in a demonstration or seen protest art?

I haven’t participated in a demonstration, but I’ve encountered protest art—abstract murals, performance pieces, and collective marches that use creativity to voice dissent or demand change. They feel like powerful, symbolic ways to communicate when words alone aren’t enough.

# data[].attributes.headline
AI - Developing Academic Writing PCA Note-7.22

# data[].attributes.subject
AI - Developing Academic Writing PCA Note-7.22

# data[].attributes.body
poster group 4