ALFREDO JAAR: GEOGRAPHY WAR
Paul Van Blum of the University of California wrote recently that “much art criticism reacts to the contentless nature of art, so the criticism is very formalistic with content considerations insignificant. Mentioning content is heretical . . . and it lacks academic credibility.” Van Blum overstates the point a bit. Feminists, multiculturalists, and Marxists have spoken forcefully against continuing to view subject matter as an issue separate from quality. Nevertheless, most critics refuse to judge art based on what it argues.
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Strong political art should not need explanation. It arouses our sympathies by attacking our senses; it provides a mass of information so quickly that we learn it in our hearts even before we know it in our heads. Picasso’s Guernica, though complex and intelligent, doesn’t appeal to an intellectualized outrage. It attacks with violent images and real outrage a fascist atrocity. Who does Jaar hope to reach with his arcana? Other intellectuals who will just sit around and brood along with him? Heidegger wrote about the moment in life when information has built in one’s mind until it forces a new realization of the truth, after which there is no turning back, no excuse for irresolute behavior. Jaar’s piece is too clever and ultimately trivial to force the truth.
