DSL Magazine: Issue 13

24 COMMOTION Commotion, not to mean dissent. Art is always committed because it responds to a creative gesture. The artist is committed to the creation of his artwork. This particular gesture is a form of resistance in itself. So apart from those who create out of indulgence in the systems, the majority of art is engaged because it takes perseverance to succeed (or just to survive) in this ecosystem. Some artworks are more politicized than others. The label of engaged art is already an uncertain term. In this case, we prefer the precision of artivism. But this word is recent and little used. In a nutshell. The politically engaged works of Taiwanese Chen Chieh-Jen make dissent and traumas visible. Although these cracks are contextual, his aesthetic field of action strikes more universal neuralgias. In his installation People Pushing from 2007-2008, the visitor enters a container and watches in immersion a video where workers and activists try to tip over another container. This abyss is complete. From the workers' perspective, tackling the concrete is a claiming outlet. The focus on the catharsis of the collective gesture becomes a liberating promise.