This blog post pertains to my class discussion on participatory art. Through leading the class in discussion and various activities, I learned that participatory art is essentially characterized as the relationship between the artist and other people. In this form of art, the artist attempts to get other people involved in the project, either through direct or indirect content.

For my discussion, I showed various Youtube videos on the subject. These videos provided the class with the basic background and function behind participatory art. I then led the class in a participatory art project, where each student was required to draw an image on the chalkboard that made them happy. At the end of class, we went around the room and each student described their image and the reasons behind drawing it. The entire evolution was evocative, fun, and full of knowledge. I truly think the entire class had fun and did learn the basic concept behind participatory art, which was my primary goal from the beginning.

This blog post is pertaining to my soviet art research paper, which is over different propaganda mechanisms used by the Soviet State in the 1980’s Moscow Olympics; with the purpose of deceiving the international order that the USSR was a supporter of peace and détente, but in fact it was engaged in a controversial Cold War proxy war in Afghanistan. Through  my research, I learned that the USSR utilized several different propaganda mechanisms in the build-up prior to the Games, as well as throughout the 1980’s Olympics. My paper focused on two such mechanisms: the official poster of the 1980 Olympics, as well as the official mascot known as Misha the Bear.

The official poster of the 1980 Olympics was full of symbolism. It portrayed Leonid Brezhnev as the central figure, smiling and waving. In the background was the official Olympic emblem, the USSR flag, and a Russian quote that advocated peace and friendship. I believe that these symbols and the poster overall was used as a propaganda mechanism by the Soviet State in order to portray itself as something it was not at the time: a friendly nation state that supported world peace and détente.

My second artistic example I used was the official mascot, Misha the Bear. Misha was portrayed as a cute, cuddly, smiling bear cub. The mascot is still popular today and was a massive public hit during the 1980 Olympics, as well as being utilized in several of its ceremonies. I believe that the bear also contained several propagandistic symbols, such as: a friendly demeanor, an approachable aura, and a soft appearance. However, I liken its true nature and symbolism to that of a real bear, aggressive on the attack and tenacious on the defense.

Thus, the Soviet State utilized various forms of propaganda in the 1980 Olympic games. By doing so, it attempted to “pull the wool” over the world’s eyes in other activities it was involved in at this same time, such as the Russian invasion of Afghanistan; an event that exasperated the entire international community and threatened the very fabric of the delicate Cold War US-Russo relationship.

(google images)

Artists Komar and Melamid have been pivotal in the portray of art and history under repressive and autocratic governments since the 1970’s. According to Valerie Hillings, the duo have used their artwork to “debate, negotiate, and critique the process by which governments and other power elites manipulate both history and art history in their efforts to achieve specific ideological goals” (1). I thought it was very interesting how the two artists approached the task of incorporating all of Soviet society into an exhibit, as the task must have been monumental because it was during this time that many of Soviet era art pieces were also being destroyed after the collapse of the regime. I liked how the artists incorporated major symbols of Soviet history onto the cover of the catalogue, to include Lenin’s head, the hammer, and the sickle. The setting sun beneath all these symbols represented the dawn of a new era, which I think captured the entire movement quite well.