Description
Book SynopsisBringing together essays on activist and community-based art from the pages of "Afterimage" - one of the most influential journals in the media and visual arts fields, this title demonstrates that activist art, far from being antithetical to the true meaning of the aesthetic, can be its most legitimate expression.
Trade Review“This collection is a real testimonial to the intelligence of the editing of
Afterimage, a journal that has showcased throughtful critics and commentators for years.”—
Patricia Aufderheide, American University
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
Ongoing Negotiations:
Afterimage and the Analysts of Activist Art / Grant H. Kester 1
The Politics of Patronage
Enlightened Self-Interest: The Avant-Garde in the '80s / Richard Bolton 23
White Men Can't Program: The Contradictions of Multiculturalism / Darrell Moore 51
Fantasies of Oppositionality / Coco Fusco 60
The Mythology of Difference: Vulgar Identity Politics at the Whitney / Charles A. Wright Jr. 76
Theses on Defunding / Martha Rosler 94
Rhetorical Questions: The Alternative Arts Sector and the Imaginary Public / Grant H. Kester 103
Whose Multiculturalism? PBS, the Public, and Privilege / Mable Haddock and Chiquita Mullins Lee 136
Video Activism and Critical Pedagogy: Sexuality at the End of the Rainbow Curriculum / Brian Goldfarb 148
Activism and Oppositionality
Cultural Struggle and Educational Activism / David Trend 169
Video, AIDS, and Activism / Ann Cvetkovich 182
Early Newsreel: The Construction of a Political Imaginary for the Left / Michael Renov 199
Interview with Adrian Piper / Maurice Berger 215
Video and Electoral Appeal / Patricia Thomson 232
Fetal Tissue: Reproductive Rights and Activist Video / Patricia R. Zimmerman 248
Olympia's Maid: Reclaiming Black Female Subjectivity / Lorraine O'Grady 268
Fault Lines: Homophobic Innovation in
Gay Rights, Special Rights / Ioannis Mookas 287
Contributors 305
Index 307
