RE: [-empyre-] politics

["Renate Terese Ferro" <rtf9@cornell.edu>]

In regards to Saul?s comment that I will quote-
        "I am particularly suspicious of work that assumes a politic  in
         that it dresses up in what we have come to recognize as social or
         protest art - but offers no other than the negation of what is as an
         alternative - consequently, I would like to know what  the politics
         are of the successful  visualizations of political issues, what is a
         meaningfully subversive fashion and what is being subverted and
how a
         meaningful image may function differently than those that you would
         consider meaningless - or do all these compete in the same economy
         and are merely signs of the other- and as such a sign of liberal
         society's ability to defuse all challenges that might b y allowing
         them to expose society's ills without offering a concrete
alternative
         to the system that gives rise to them - in other words what is the
         political act you partake of - is merely one that calls for reform"

Empyre invited a guest moderator Horit Herman Peled in September whose
work puts her in the middle of everyday conflicts between Palestine and
Israel.  Her political work at the crossings between the boundaries and
her artistic work as a video/sound and media artist blend together.  Her
political action and artistic work resonate back and forth to create
powerfully amazing work.

Artist?s who participate a little less directly in the middle of a
political situation but who instead participate more in a reflexive
artistic/critical process on multiple levels are still engaged in the
process of politics. I do not find one kind or work more legitimate than
the other...just engaging its audience in another way.

Just a quick thought.  Renate