ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the political potential of socially engaged art through a case study of Brett Cook’s Art for Everyone: The Delaware Mural Project. It argues that, in order to fully appreciate socially engaged practices, it is necessary to draw upon political theoretical frameworks that proffer new ways of thinking about the relationship between art and politics. This is in addition to the familiar aesthetic frameworks that recognize the value of dialogue and relationship-building (such as relational aesthetics and dialogical art). Whereas critical theorists often locate art’s political potential in its ability to disrupt systems of power, this analysis attends to the constructive moments inherent in Cook’s practice—the work’s ability to bring participants together and to create new opportunities for interaction. In so doing, the chapter argues that Cook’s practice exemplifies what Hannah Arendt might term the “world-building” capacity of art—a concept that the authors believe offers new possibilities for thinking about the political potential of aesthetic practices. Based on the authors’ own experiences of Cook’s project, as well as those shared by other participants, the analysis suggests that Cook’s work helps to create a common world that makes possible future political interaction.
