This essay aims at contextualizing Keith Haring’s art activism in relation to Walter Benjamin’s ideas on the artwork in the age of mechanical reproduction to open up a discussion on the potential of art. This intends to create a theoretical framework for a deeper understanding of how Haring’s art activism operates and prove a continued relevance of Benjamin’s ideas. In addition, the discussion aims at stating the function of art as a tool for social and political change and thus argues for the significance of art in a societal context.

The analysis focuses on three examples from Keith Haring's oeuvre: the chalk drawings, Pop Shop and his art during the AIDS epidemic with an important examination of the poster Ignorance = Fear. These examples are analysed and contextualized in dialogue with Benjamin’s conception of the aura and function of art, ideas originating from his text “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and parts of the causality that creates the potential. Moreover, these examples illustrate two aspects of Haring’s art activism: the democratization and the politicization of his work. 

The concluding discussion relates to the content of the analysis and elucidates the operation of Haring’s art activism in relation to Benjamin’s ideas on the potential of art. Thus, shedding new light on both Haring’s work and art activism as well as Benjamin’s concepts. In effect, this is ultimately an essay exploring and arguing for the significance of art.