I just want to say to Henry that I agree - the phenomena that he lists
certainly fit the definition of the public secret, particularly
because of their apparent intractability. It is difficult to know what
is to be done in the face of such overwhelming problems. It is much
easier to slip into collective denial. How do we force ourselves to
face our own self-annihilation? and at the scale of the problems Henry
addressed? The list he posted - his focus on overpopulation and
depleted resources - made me think of an interestingly controversial
project "A-Portable", a refurbished shipping container that
functioned as a mobile gynecological clinic designed by Atelier Van
Leishout in collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Gompers, founder of "Women
on Waves" in Amsterdam. "A-Portable" was designed to allow Dr.
Gomperts to make first trimester abortions available where the
procedure is illegal by performing them in international waters - 19km
from shore just outside national jurisdiction - free of charge.
"A-Portable" was exhibited as a work of art in the Venice Biennale and
the subsequent media attention was intended to provoke activism that
would lead to legislative change. There were many questions around the
actual use of "A-Portable" after the exhibition and initial launch. I
admit have not followed the history of the project and I don't mean to
suggest that it was a successful intervention but I bring it up merely
as an example of a pragmatic strategic approach to both education
(direct education in the clinic setting and political education
through the media) and activism that operated, in part, in the realm
of art practice and exhibition. It also provided a catalyst for legal
activism. I was very taken with a quote from the text, which
accompanied the exhibition at the Venice Biennale,
"To understand the work one must move from ontology, (what is art?) to
pragmatism (what can art do?). Herein lies a possible revival of
avant-garde politics - no longer historically "ahead", nor operating
through shock and estrangement, but rather producing works that make
things possible right now..."
I think that A-portable actually did operate through shock and
estrangement and, I think that is why it succeeded in getting the
attention that it did - - if it was ever really operative it could
also have changed the realities of the individuals and communities it
engaged. While I tend to see the latter as much more important there
is the problem of scale that Henry's post makes clear.
There are many answers to the question "what can art do?" in
productive and practical resistance to the public secret at varying
levels of scale - Ricardo's post provides a number of really
productive answers in the realm of grass-roots activism and critical
pedagogy which do not rely on shock estrangement and do not always
get the attention of the art world or media that is necessary to
facilitate social change.
best,
Sharon
Sharon wrote:
There are secrets that are kept from the public and then there are
"public secrets" - secrets that the public chooses to keep safe from
itself, like the troubling "don't ask, don't tell." The trick to the
public secret is in knowing what not to know. This is the most
powerful form of social knowledge. Such shared secrets sustain social
and political institutions. The injustices of the war on drugs, the
criminal justice system, and the Prison Industrial Complex are "public
secrets."
==========================================================
OK - here's a few public secrets:
1. There are too many people.
2. We are way into overshoot and unless massive sacrifices are made
immediately
in terms of economic and material wealth that is re-directed into
mitigation
efforts, the planet will experience a massive die off in the 21st
century.
3. Government exists to protect and project the interests of the
ruling class.
4. We Are Atlantis.
HW
SF
CA
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