Director Colin M. Day is probably having a riotous one right now because his new film debuts on Rolling Stone today; as The Art of Protest takes you through a landscape of dissent and resistance and guerilla-style art installation.

Focused primarily on behind-the-scenes antics and laudatory reviews of the in-your-face and theatrical performances of the anonymous Indecline Collective, whose various works have  appeared here for over a decade, you’re challenged to separate the constructive from the destructive. To add nuance, as the university types are likely to say today, Day smartly broadens the scope to help put provocative actions of these artist/activists into a greater context of political protest in its myriad creative forms over the last half-century. As usual, history helps us understand this moment, and to seize it.

Offering insights and interviews from activist artists of many stripes and disciplines, including Nadya Tolokonnikova, Jello Biafra, Shepard Fairey, and Igor Vamos of The Yes Men, you’ll quickly understand that the struggle for most of these artists is a principled one, whether articulated in a shocking tenor or a puzzling subversive one. In addition to art on the street from Fairey, it is good to see many artists we have featured here multiple times such as ROA, Bordallo II, Cleon Peterson, Monica Canilao, Blek le Rat, Ron English, and Jesse Hazlip. Each has a distinctly different style, yet a very similar determination to use their art as an extension of speech. In a sea of discord and disinformation, these strident voices come through clearly.  

“The days of passively making art for arts’ sake ended a long time ago,” says musician Moby, and the film drives the message home in each one of its 45 minutes.  

Directed by Colin M. Day (Saving Banksy), the film premieres on RollingStone.com on Tuesday, October 13th at 9:00am EST.

SEE THE FILM HERE FREE OF CHARGE: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/indecline-documentary-art-of-protest-resistance-1074196/

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