People Think They Know, But They Don't

December 24, 2004

This line was spoken by the mother who lost her son to the war in Iraq in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. The most horrifying aspect of the current political situation in America, is that a nation of voters re-elected George Bush based on a perception of reality that was manipulated and distorted by deceptive political tactics. This distortion of reality was then magnified and reinforced by the mainstream media. As a result, the voters of America thought they knew, but they didn’t… So now what?

By the same token, does art allow for the articulation of truth? Or is art too influenced by the pressure of artworld power brokers. Can art speak to the necessities of the artist only when it separates itself from the imposed obligations of artworld practice? When it does separate itself, does it cease to be art?

It now becomes the greatest necessity to convey the truth as one sees it to a world in urgent need of it.

Nothing Can Stop the Artist

December 17, 2004

Matters have exceeded all bounds… when the artist moves to ask for his rights, security agencies cannot stop him.

A Season in Hell

December 11, 2004

Can the artist save the world? Our mission is clear: We must travel to the ends of the earth to prevent world annihilation; we will deliver a message of reconciliation to oppressed peoples; we will subvert the leading platforms of the artworld to promote the role of the artist; we will blur the imaginary and the real to create what is possible, what could be… Xmas on Earth?

The Cost of the Iraqi War

December 05, 2004

Artists Affect Company's Stock Price

December 04, 2004

BBC Retracts Bhopal Story (Quicktime, 3.4 MB)

Yesterday, on the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, I received the following email, ostensively from Dow Chemical’s media relations department. It seemed to be counteracting a hoax that said the company would take full responsibility for the disastrous chemical leak twenty years ago and would pay out millions of dollars to survivors of the catastrophe. Read it closely.

When I got home I tuned in the BBC World and saw this news report (Quicktime, 3.4 MB).