This Sunday, Creative Time opened its one week convention titled Democracy in America: The National Campaign, more than 40 projects filling the Park Avenue Armory. Like a mini-biennial, though actually the same size as the one I saw in Taipei, it was a real antidote to all the somber political art videos that I saw in Asia. Here, instead of routinely recycling well-intentioned issue-oriented text-based tropes, anarchy ruled with political icecream, political soup, political karaoke, political reenactments, political queer, political t-shirts and bumperstickers, most of which made fun of the notion that democracy was still up and running in America.
The entire afternoon was an exercise in some kind of public art celebration---the art world with lots of kids on hand. So you found Carlo McCormick, Jeffrey Deitch, Kirby Gookin and Robin Kahn, my favorite editor Barbara Macadam, Nancy Princenthal, and even, the usually shy Holland Cotter, spending their day wandering around the Wade Thompson Drill Hall, while Creative Time director Anne Pasternack and curator Nato Thompson gave face time like professional politicians. My favorite moment--Nato taking the stage at the karaoke station to belt out some tunes--not Bob Dylan, surprisingly. And lots of people licking creamsicles from the icecream truck that also dispensed advice on first amendment rights. Yes, political art can be fun, especially when it both participates and pokes fun at the state of the activism today. The show sure beats the endless emails I get from Artists Against the War and other activist groups that think that waste our time urging us to sign web petitions against Sarah Palin. (Yes, I hate to say it but its true, these group serves are less interesting than art that makes fun of list serves.)
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