Candle, watercolor.
My art circle defines a Drive-by Artist as someone who invades a community or exposes a subject’s life for the sole purpose of creating art, then moves onto the next subject.
Such has been the case of some filmmakers or site-specific artists. These artists find an interesting topic, they translate the subject’s story into art, but never consider what impact the artistic retelling of highly personal stories will be for the subjects.
It is easy for an artist to move from project to project under the guise of helping to shine a spotlight on subjects that would not be brought to the forefront otherwise.
The hardship for the subject is that they do not have the resources to move onto another subject. Momentary fame in a gallery, magazine or theater does not resolve a social matter. Many times the subject has a naive illusion that a well presented artist has the ability to end their circumstance. In the end they may only receive a small recompense for their time with a Drive-by Artist.
True art activism is a continued connection with a cause by exposing it over and over in an artistic series, until the dilemma is resolved. Art activism is making a pledge to stay connected with subjects, to use all personal resources to help create change for the subjects and to make life-long friendships with the humans who inspire your art.