Do you know your so called solidarity, class struggle, and collective action are part of the mandatory political education in mainland China? Look how competitive and suppressive China is. Besides, asking artists to transform society is nothing new, as Soviet Union used to call artists “the engineers of society” see what kind of socialistrealismus Ideological propaganda they were making?
I don’t think you understand art at all even though you claimed to be in academia.(academia is a battlefield anyway) Art(visual, literature, music) gives you opportunities to become another person to travel into another world through empathy and understanding. It kills your ego and it makes you a better human being with less anger and violence.
If you believe art is an instrument for political power then you will be very disappointed. Don’t be people who love art criticism more than art itself, or you’ll be like the critics in Bolaño’s 2666, chasing a ghost of the past.