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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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Notes on this blog: the tone has been changing here, as regular readers will have noticed. This is due to the fact that my day-work right now requires more long-term writing attention, which doesn't go so well with the bursts of research and articulation that hardcore blogging requires. I am sorry for the current lack of traditional art reviews and reportage, but I am not going to force it. For now, I will continue posting bits of my research, musing notes, and miscellaneous pictures.
I was moved and impressed by Steve Kurtz and Greg Bordowitz during their talk here on Saturday night. Kurtz is sardonic and eloquent and gave a good slide show on the history of Critical Art Ensemble's troubles with authority. The upshot being that art works that threaten to disrupt the flow of capital are more likely than not to draw negative attention from the powers that be. Bordowitz is like a can of pressurized charisma. He was passionate and articulate and a lot of what was said is sticking with me:
1) USA is working hard right now to establish an 'enemy within.' This case against Kurtz is a test for them to see if they can go after rebellious white middle class intellectuals as well as visible minorities and protestors. If the US government can gain enough oppressive power at home to subjugate its own middle class, then they are operating with even fewer checks and balances...bad news for US citizens (obviously) and super-bad news for the rest of us in the world too. The CAE Legal Defense Fund is in solidarity with other who are persecuted under the Patriot Act, and hopes to expand after the case in order to help more people.
2) There was refreshing talk about protest and the nature of rebellion. CAE has held for years that protesting in the streets is the not necessarily always the most effective way to voice dissent. Says Bordowitz, "I don't feel like performing rage anymore. I feel like performing deppression," and "the politics are here in this room, in what we say later to our co-workers and students." Says Kurtz, "what's important is the process of coming to the decision that you will no longer go along with what you know is wrong."
3) The question was raised, has rebellion itself been commodified to the extent that it is no longer possible to rebel? The answer was refreshingly sincere and complex. Yes it is possible, even vitally necessary to rebel. Kurtz spoke about how rebellion is a dynamic, an ongoing relationship with power, and that success is measured in increments, over time, as part of a continuum rather than a coup. Bordowitz pointed out that we operate under a false myth that, in any field, if we perform to competency we will succeed. In fact, very qualified, hard working intelligent people are not succeeding. So the question is raised...rebellion may be flawed but as opposed to what?
4) Bordowitz noted a rise of anti-intellectualism -- scary, and close to home -- as many charge that the use of expert language (research language, as Bordowitz put it) is elitist and exclusive, when in fact it can simply be seen as people communicating with one another in the technical terminiology of their trade. This is something that's been nagging at me more and more recently in all this (my) talk of accessibility and general audiences for art. I like intellectuals...they ("we," if I may presume...) come up with good and interesting ideas.
There was lots more good stuff too. If you attended the talk and anything stuck out for you (anything other than the stellar and mind-blowing job of moderation by your's truly) please post it in the comments. And if you want to help out with the legal defense fund, please click here and find out more.