It is silly to ask the question "can art change the world?". But only because the answer is obvious. If the question was "can culture change the world?", the an

It is silly to ask the question "can art change the world?". But only because the answer is obvious. If the question was "can culture change the world?", the answer would be unequivocally yes. If the question was "can literature change the world" there wouldn't be any doubt about it. Does the contemporary art world that we see in galleries today change the world? Of course it does. A lot of what is currently mainstream ideas started in the gallery. A lot of complex philosophical ideas have made it to popular culture through avant guarde art. The CIA itself was sponsoring abstract expressionist artists such as Jackson Pollocks. They thought it was great propaganda for individualism and personal freedom and that it would help fight communism in the world.