- Can Art Stop a Bullet, at its simplest, is a documentary about artist William Kelly, but it's so much more than that. Centred around the creation of an art work for Kelly's State Library of Victoria Fellowship the film explores the relationship between art and activism, and the power of images to change how we think and to effect real change.—Karynsiegmann
- Can Art temper violence when politics and reason fails? Can art stop bullets? Through the voices of some of the world's most socially engaged artists and thinkers, Can Art Stop A Bullet explores the role of art in achieving change in times of crisis. Drawing on iconic works that have shaken the world this film reaches from our past to our collective future....and it couldn't be more timely. 60 years ago there was the threat of nuclear confrontation, racial violence, sexual tensions, and a conflict in the Middle East. A coalition of Western powers led by the USA dropped thousands of bombs and civilians were the victims. Today, nuclear warheads are being fired over Japan, stress, fear and terror around the world is escalating. It's a time of civil wars, terrorist attacks, and of refugees in crisis, ethnic, religious and racial conflict. Things have come full circle with assaults on human rights, social justice and free speech that attempt to crush the voices of journalists and artists. Circumstances that permeated both America and Australia in the past have returned. Forces that led to the rise of fascism and the fear that gripped the 'Cold War' era are now creating a chill again.
History is a depressing pattern of bad judgements and unnecessary wars. Now things have come full circle. The fear that gripped the world during the Cold War is creating a familiar chill again. Rational voices are either ignored, mocked or attacked. These restraining voices are often the voices of art. Wars are never started by mentally stable people. Why do oppressive governments first try to silence artists? What is it about art that frightens warmongers so much? Can Art temper violence when politics and reason fails? Can art stop bullets? Throughout his life, William Kelly has suspected that art has a profound ability to break through the vicious rage, that narrows minds, to create calming insights. Through the voices of some of the world's most socially engaged artists and thinkers, William Kelly's Big Picture explores these questions in the search for an alternative path for humanity.
The documentary is, indeed, about the big picture....not just our past but our shared future.
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What is the English language plot outline for Can Art Stop a Bullet: William Kelly's Big Picture (2020)?
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