Re: [-empyre-] politics of critical fusion?

[Alice Miceli <alicemiceli@terra.com.br>]

Hello Tim,

Yes, political connotation is something that is definitely present in  
the "Chernobyl Project", in the most fundamental and active way. As  
the artistic act that the project makes - seeing the invisible, a  
very specific “invisible” particular to a very specific space - is,  
intrinsically, a political act as well, that addresses different  
layers of “invisibility”, as we have discussed here.

I have been interested in creating unexpected visualizations of  
political issues, which I believe should be meaningfully addressed in  
a subversive fashion. As it is the case with Chernobyl, I am  
intensely concerned with the invention of particular devices designed  
to display images in specific ways - with special attention to the  
different possibilities it opens while producing meaningful images;  
and by that I mean meanings that are integral part of the virtually  
endless ways in which an image can be generated.

That was also the point of previous project, the video “88 from  
14.000”. While Chernobyl requires the invention of a whole new device  
for creating images, this one required the invention of a specific  
display. It displays images of people who were imprisoned and  
murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime, in Cambodia. The pictures, taken  
at the time of their detention, are projected on a veil of falling  
sand; the actual time of projection being proportional to the  
individuals' time in prison (1day of life at the S21 prison = 1Kg of  
sand = image displayed during 4 seconds).

To a large extent, the ongoing consequences of the Khmer Rouge period  
shape the social reality in Cambodia, but they are not on newspaper  
covers, even though they are urgent issues, that deal with questions  
about how we relate to our past nowadays and affect the life of  
millions of people. These are questions concerning social  
responsibility, especially “at the intersections of art, geography,  
architecture, and activism”, as you formulated very concisely.

Best,
A.


On Sep 21, 2007, at 2:56 PM, Timothy Murray wrote:

> > It's nice to have you back online, Alice
>
> I've been meaning to ask you about your commitment to creating art  
> "events" that have an inherently political undercurrent, as does  
> Chernobyl, whether from a "green" standpoint or from the  
> perspective of international relations.  Is this just something  
> that pertains only to the Chernobyl project  or is it reflective of  
> your work as a whole?  I'm asking in relation to our framing of  
> "critical spatial practice" as what "entails the claiming of social  
> responsibility at the intersections of art, geography,  
> architecture, and activism.
>
> Best,
>
> Tim
>
> > Hi Maurice,
> >
> > From reading the posts, I had in mind a similar idea, but was  
> > uncertain about the relation between "critical fusion" and  
> > "fiction". Thanks for the explanation. I think it should apply  
> > then to all powerful works of art?
> >
> > It seems to me that in creating specific ways to access some  
> > reality, even if in very temporary and contingent forms, the  
> > inquirer inextricably formats what is seen and created.  
> > Considering that in a painting, in a film, in an installation and  
> > so on, the way in which we formulate questions to something called  
> > reality shapes in an intrinsic way the results that might be  
> > created - there always should be, I think, a critical fusion  
> > taking place in good (strong, powerful) artwork, in different  
> > degrees of information, fiction and "reality"?
> Alice
> --
> Timothy Murray
> Professor of Comparative Literature and English
> Director of Graduate Studies in Film and Video Studies
> Curator, The Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, Cornell Library
> 285 Goldwin Smith Hall
> Cornell University
> Ithaca, New York 14853
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