The Art of Activism is an all-purpose guide to artistic activism, combining the creative power of the arts to move us emotionally with the strategic planning of activism necessary to bring about social change. With contemporary case studies and historical examples, chapters on cultural and cognitive theory, sections on what can be learned from unlikely sources like popular culture and marketing techniques, along with investigations into ethics and evaluation, explorations of the creative process and the importance of utopian thinking, and an attached workbook with over fifty exercises to practice, the co-founders of the Center for Artistic Activism take readers step-by-step through the process of becoming, or becoming even better, artistic activists.

Coverage forthcoming in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Artforum, ArtReview, BOMB, Guernica, Frieze, and Interview Magazine. Interviews forthcoming on This American Life with Ira Glass, The Brian Lehrer Show with Brian Lehrer, and Against the Grain with Sasha Lilley. Events to be held at New York University and Purchase College.

About the Author
Stephen Duncombe is an associate professor at New York University's Gallatin School in the department of Media, Culture and Communications and is a lifelong political activist. He is the author and editor of six books including Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy, Notes From Underground: Zines and the Politics of Underground Culture, The Bobbed Haired Bandit: Crime and Celebrity in 1920s New York, Cultural Resistance Reader, White Riot: Punk Rock and the Politics of Race, and (Open) Utopia. Steve Lambert was born in Los Angeles in 1976. He and his family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area four days later. His father was a former Franciscan friar, and his mother, an ex-Dominican nun. He dropped out of high school in 1993, but went on to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in and the University of California, Davis. He teaches at SUNY Purchase. He is a member of the New York based artist group Free Art and Technology Lab. He has won several awards including from Turbulence, the Creative Work Fund, Rhizome/The New Museum, Adbusters Media Foundation, and the California Arts Council Duncombe and Lambert are co-founders of The Center for Artistic Activism.

Reviews

"All true art is a form of activism, and the best, most enduring activism rises to the level of art. Here's a thrilling invitation and actionable playbook for anyone willing to retrieve their autonomy, open minds, and fight the power." - Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human and Media Virus

"Artists and Activists who want to collaborate often find they are separated by different languages. Steve and Steve bring them together and draw out the strengths of both to achieve beautiful and powerful results." - Nathan Santry, Actions Director, Greenpeace USA

"All roads to lasting change lead through the intersection of art and activism. Too often this truth gets lost in sector jargon, undervalued skill sets and other nonsense. Here is a useful tool for anyone interested in social change to become well versed in creative problem solving and marshaling the talents of both artists and activists." - Rise Wilson

"An inspiring visual guide to making activism more creative with art and art more effective with activism. The Steves' humorous and playful approach to artistic activism has me ready to get out in the streets and cause some good trouble. I found a ton to steal in this book, and so will you." - Austin Kleon, New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist

"A deep dive on the process, principles, history and practice of artistic activism... [An] important resource" - Waging Nonviolence

"Lavishly illustrated, the text mixes ideas on how to 'do' politics with creative application to change the 'look' of politics too" - Compass

"Offers an inspirational structure for the concept of artistic activism" - The Village Sun

Book Information
ISBN 9781682192696
Author Stephen Duncombe
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint OR Books
Publisher OR Books