Abstract

Increasingly, art about contemporary life finds itself simultaneously fascinated by the sheer variety of dangers and threats that face humanity, but also unable to capture the sheer scale of these threats/dangers. Perhaps this is, to some degree, inevitable; we are living in an age of such rapid technological change that “keeping up” with all the challenges that face us is itself bound to demand of the artist that she or he be in a state of chronic creative mania. Nevertheless, there are key themes that I think contemporary artists need to pay more attention to: these are militarism, the geopolitical history of the 20th/21st C., the environment, and job loss. I have made video poems on these themes and am interested in artists doing likewise. This paper would give an overview of all this material, and underline some of the creative strategies that politically engaged artists can use in order to keep their artwork fresh and engaged with a world that has entered Baudrillard’s conception of the “hyperreal” and of wars that “do not exist.” And apart from Baudrillard, I also may make reference to the ideas of Slavoj Zizek (concepts (sometimes rather problematical) of revolution) and Giorgio Agamben (the concept of “states of exception” that allow neo-fascist states). However, above all, I would like to reference ideas of practicing artists that I have gleaned from interviews and discussions I have had over the years.

Presenters

Finn Harvor
Associate Professor, English Interpretation and Translation, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul Teugbyeolsi [Seoul-T'ukpyolshi], South Korea

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Image Work

KEYWORDS

Apocalypse, New Media

Digital Media

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