Art and Identity Response

I find it interesting when artists step out of the social barriers of the artworld (galleries and museums) and into the reality of what artists are trying to express. When art is staged or simply is an experience of our social reality, it is more honest and less safe. It is much more of a reality.

David Hammons "Bliz-aard Ball Sale" 1984 performance in Cooper Square, New York City

What are the external forces that shape our identity?

Social oppression?

Consumerism?

Government control?

Corporate Control?

Home life psychology?

Social classes?

Economics?

How much of our identity is controlled by an inner essence and how much of it is controlled by the outside sources?

John Locke states that we all begin as a blank canvas and everything that we experience is everything that develops us.

How much is nature and how much is nurture in regards to identity?

Mary Kelly "Postpardum Document" 1973-79