Art and Our Planet: Our Brains View Art as Part of a Movement

Humans have used art as a form of expression since the beginning of time. From cave paintings to modern museum galleries, artwork is made with intention. It has a message behind it. That’s why it’s so often used during movements, to rally people behind something better conveyed through image than words.

That link is something even scientists want to understand. Our brains process words in a specific way, but art? That’s completely subjective. 

Linking the Brain to Art

Everyone’s heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, it can be, but it’s more like it’s worth a completely different type of neurological stimuli, specifically how humans decide whether or not they “like” a piece of art.

Researchers at Caltech scanned the brains of volunteers over four days, who went through thousands of paintings and rated how much they liked the painting. What they found was that the medial prefrontal cortex that sits in an area in front of the brain assigns a subjective value to art right when a human first sees it. The brain breaks art into essential qualities and decides if it likes those qualities or not. 

Of course, it’s still all subjective. Even if we all use the same part of our brains to decide if we like art, it doesn’t mean we’ll all end up liking the same art. But that neural activity only explains the initial “gut-check” a person has towards a piece of art, and doesn’t account for one important aspect.

Knowing the message behind the art.

Modern Protest Art

“Protest Art” is a loose term for the art created by activists and social movements with a specific cause or action behind it. These types of art are hard to trace far into the past, but some famous historical examples include Paule Revere’s “The Boston Massacre” from 1770, displaying the event of the same name five years before the American Revolutionary War started. It, like other protest art pieces, captured the essence of the movement Revere was a part of.

In modern day, protest art pops up in many forms, but none are as classic as the mural. The British street and graffiti artist Banksy is one of the most recognizable “protest art” artists out there. His murals have often commentated on politics and current events. However, most movements aren’t heralded by a singular artist, but rather many coming together to create art that speaks to a wide range of people. The 2020 Black Lives Matter movement in the United States saw hundreds of murals go up in honor of George Floyd. Even the simple peace sign got its start as a sketch used on protest signs for an anti-nuclear protest walk.

Ultimately, a single piece of art isn’t the thing that unites a social or political movement visually, but the culmination of many pieces of artwork made by those most invested in that movement. .

This Year’s Poster

One of the many people invested in the good of the planet is Miles Wintner, who created the 2026 Earth Day poster. He represented this years theme of “Our Power, Our Planet” into depicting the Earth as a flower being held in a person’s hand.

To him, it represents both the tenderness and strength of humanity’s relationship with the plant. How ideally, the earth is cared for gently by humanity like we would a flower. It adds to the surreal nature of being human at a time when it’s critical to be planet-minded.

You can add your voice to the cause just like Wintner did and participate in Earth Day this year at one of thousands of events. Art is subjective, and a great tool to get a message across, but people need to make it, see it, and be inspired by it. So be inspired, not just by Wintner, but by the world, because it’s in the palm of our hands.

Order your limited edition poster.

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