Do artists/creative practitioners have more responsibility than other members of society for addressing social issues?
Contemporary artists are in an interesting place because they're one of the few sets of people who are allowed to think and create without any rules or boundaries. In one respect, their job is to keep imagining the unknown and the until-then-impossible.
In relation to the responsibility they 'may' have for addressing social issues, artists seem to be the only sector who can operate freely across disciplines and across issues; they seem to have that mobility that most people in most disciplines find incredibly difficult.
I also think that artists are licensed to ask questions, and that they do. They have the choice to address social issues and the art of being an artist is to freely express yourself in any way. Does that mean they have more of a responsibilty? They may have to answer to their work more so than say a journalist who covers social issues but I don't feel they carry more responsibility.
They can move across disciplines, work along side different practioners so should have the same or less responsibility than say someone who's sole job is to adress social issues.
Whether they create art that adresses social issues or not, artists and creative practioners will always cause controversy.
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