Re: [-empyre-] Abu Ghraib and the image

["Conor McGarrigle" <conormcgarrigle@gmail.com>]

Hi List
Isn't the power of the Abu Ghraib images (in particular the hooded
figure with outstreched arms)  dependent of the fact that it is
artistically a strong iconic image that the viewer responds to on an
aesthetic level, and it's this power of making the viewer admire
something reprehensible that gives it it's power to shock - a bit like
Triumph of the will.

The Amy Wilson case  has echoes of the Brandeis censoring an
exhibition of drawings by Palestinian teenagers of Palestinian daily
life done at the behest of an Israeli student at the college because
they lacked reference to the Israeli point of view.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/05/03/brandeis_pulls_artwork_by_palestinian_youths/

Conor