Reviews

Documentary title: Can art stop a bullet? The big picture.

Year:  2020

Release:  June 30 – July 15, 2020

Running time: 90 mins

Language: English

Director: Mark Street

Writer: Mark Street

Producer: Fiona Cochrane

Cast: William Kelly, John Keane, Nick Ut, Rama Mani, A. C. Grayling, Martin Sheen

Once in a while a documentary comes along that has the rare distinction of standing out from the rest. The documentary’s contents may be so convincing and so compelling that once seen, it cannot be unseen, misremembered or forgotten. And its consciousness raising message may reverberate far beyond its screening, reminding viewers of the moral importance of advocacy and activism. Mark Street’s Can art stop a bullet? is one of those documentaries.

Street’s documentary (a work of art in itself) traces, in episodic increments, the development of artist William Kelly’s conglomerate work Peace or war/The Big Picture. This magnificent evocative work (12 meters in length x 1.5 meters wide) was completed by Kelly while undertaking a Creative Fellowship with the Victorian State Library (2014-2016). The final work was installed in the State Library's Dome Reading Room in late 2016 and spanned over three stories.

William Kelly (1943-2023) was a noted American artist, humanist and human-rights advocate who lived and worked in Australia and the United States. He is renowned for using his art as a form of activism throughout his life.  His Peace or war/The Big Picture montage combines iconic war images in a manner carefully crafted to change how people might think about the world and, hopefully, effect change. Notable among the unforgettable images inspiring the work include those of 9-year-old Kim Phuc running down a street following a napalm attack during the Vietnam War, the ‘Hooded Man’ image showing a prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison with wires attached to his fingers, standing on a box with a covered head; the Tiananmen Square incident and the image of a man standing  alone to block a line of tanks; and the bombing of civilian streets (such as those graphically depicted in historic records of the bombings of Guernica, London, Dresden, Berlin, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Pyongyang, Hanoi, Bagdad and Aleppo, to name some). Commenting on the confronting power of these images, Kelly reflects: ‘Although it may be said that a painting can never stop a bullet, I know that a painting can stop a bullet from being fired…’.

The confronting and evocative images of the destructive power of war are counter-balanced by hopeful images of a mother suckling her child, an ordinary quiet suburban street, doves of peace, and the offer of a rose to an outstretched hand across a bridge in the midst of its construction – intended as a metaphor for the bridge building that must be done in order to achieve peace.  And it is at the conjunction of these contrasting images that viewers are invited to decide where they stand on the matter of war and peace. As cast member Marty Sheen challenges, ‘I know you saw that. Now what?’. In sum, what are you (we) going to do about what we have seen…?

If there are any doubts about whether an artistic image can have sway in the minds of people, documentary cast member Rama Mani’s response serves well to dispel such doubts. Mani recounts her work at the United Nations during which, in an attempt to bring back humanity into the UN’s work, she has enacted the testimonies of real-life human beings who have survived the horrors of war and torture. She recounts how ministers and leaders of all kinds broke down in tears when hearing her accounts of survivors of torture and responding, ‘We cannot shirk our responsibility as UN leaders.’

Arguably one of the most convincing revelations made by Mani, however, is her reminding viewers of the singular transformative power of Piccaso’s famous ‘Guernica’ painting. Painted in 1937, this oil painting is regarded as one of Picasso’s best and is deemed by many critics ‘as the most moving and powerful antiwar painting in history’. In 1985 a tapestry reproduction of Picasso’s anti-war mural was donated to and has since hung outside the Security Council chamber at the UN headquarters in New York. In February 2003, however, it what has been described as ‘an act of extraordinary historical resonance’, the tapestry was covered up at the request of then US secretary Colin Powell while presenting the US case for war against Iraq. This request was interpreted by critics as an attempt to prevent the public or the media drawing parallels between the bombing of Guernica (which had no strategic military significance) and the bombing of Iraq.

Can art stop a bullet? stands as a powerful invitation to viewers to think differently about our troubled world and to consider alternatives for creating a better world and for enhancing the betterment of humanity.  It also provides a convincing account of how a visual image can convey complex information and ideas and in doing so help change minds and thinking about the world as it is. It also shows how art can elevate issues above the ordinary and in doing so give us a larger view. For visual artists, viewing this documentary may also be practice-changing: painting beautiful pictures may no longer be enough – unless doing so also carries with it an intention to challenge and change the status quo.

This documentary is compelling viewing not only for artists interested in pursuing art as activism. Evocative, informative and intriguing, this masterpiece has a place in the video libraries of all concerned citizens committed to making a better world for current and future generations.

Dr Megan-Jane Johnstone AO

Artist, Author and Ethicist

Adjunct Professor, La Trobe University

Melbourne

Suggested citation:

Johnstone, Megan-Jane (2025). Review: Can art stop a bullet? < add in online post>