To some, mixing art and politics is like mixing oil and water. In reality it is more like mixing oil and vinegar. But where’s the salad? The dangers are (one) political aesthetics and (two) artistic politics. Examples of the first danger are when, in olden times, Greenbergian formalists froze out political art, the better to promote capitalism around the world; and nowadays, in more enlightened times, when poststructuralists use aesthetics to destroy their academic rivals. An … [Read more...]