Art/AIDS

Art is often considered a form of expression, both for those who create art and for cultures or generations as a whole. By expressing political, racial, sexual, and other ideas, artists can communicate to the viewer and express issues of today's society. Art brings important issues to the attention of the general population that are in need of discussion and attention. The AIDS epidemic was one such issue that the art community created a discussion about.

Douglas Crimp discusses the relationship between the art world and AIDS in "AIDS: Cultural Analysis/Cultural Activism. Crimp writes, "we don't need a cultural renaissance, we need cultural practices actively participating in the struggle against AIDS" (Kocur, Leung 144). By this, he means that the art world cannot rely on passive attempts to raise money for a disease that we usually are not fully educated about. Instead, the truth about AIDS should be communicated through art. Crimp writes of such active participation titled, Let the Record Show, stating, "[it] is the work of an ad hoc committee within ACT UP that responded to the New Museum's offer to create the window installation" (Kocur, Leung 144). This installation included quotes and facts about government aid, or lack there of, in relation to the AIDS epidemic (Kocur, Leung 144-146). Art projects such as this one are greatly important to our society. They bring issues that are in need to discussion and activism, like AIDS, to the public floor.