This Post is Not About Ebola

Break it Up, Break it up

Lately the news feeds and casual conversations have been flooded with frightening topics such as Ebola… As clearly stated in the title, this post will NOT be about Ebola. I am going to change gears and discuss a positive topic – worth spreading. The intention is not to scare you like the media has been doing an excellent job of lately, but to break up the overwhelming amounts of anxiety and fear that the world is currently affected by.

Use Art to Turn the World Inside Out

I recently watched a TEDtalk by artist J.R., “Use Art to Turn the World Inside Out”. J.R. is an artist/photographer who has pushed the international limits of art to turn the world inside out. He began throwing himself into disheveled communities throughout the world – learning, listening and collaborating with the inhabitants. He would then paste enormous black and white photo images of the faces of those he interviewed with on buildings, trains & bridges. He made ordinary people the subject of his art bringing together the communities he visited like never before. With art.

“I mean, the city’s the best gallery I could imagine.I would never have to make a book and then present it to a gallery and let them decide if my work was nice enough to show it to people. I would control it directly with the public in the streets”

You Have the Power

J.R. acknowledged that the world is our canvas. J.R. made an impact with “people, energy & glue.” Anyone can create anything they dream of in order to make the world a better place. Creating is something we do frequently as a child. As we become older creating fades further away from our lives, but it doesn’t have to. Paint a picture, write a blog post – anything you desire to break up the monotony of the gloomy media placed before our eyes on a daily basis.

In 2011 J.R. won the TED prize at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California for his Inside Out project which you can even take part in. JR was granted a wish and stated ‘I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project and together we will turn the world…Inside Out.’ Now I encourage you to go create the things you wish existed. You will make a difference.

“Do you know what it takes to do [a global art project]? People, energy, glue… I don’t use any brand or corporate sponsors. So I have no responsibility to anyone but myself and the subjects.”