February 29, 2008
Five years ago, on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Kurt and the late Susan Sontag spoke about the ways artists portray war -- how they respond to it and why we need artists to help us understand it. Some of the artwork discussed included Francisco Goya's "The Disasters of War" and Jeff Wall's "Dead Troops Talk".
Very interesting show. Too bad we lost her.
an artist and humanist and commentator on our lives, original, thoughtful and powerful God bless her memory
This was a moving show, and Ms. Sontag's points no less valid today than in 2003.
She mentions 'identifying with groups' of people, and that we do not react in the same way to atrocities carried out on groups with which we do not identify, as we would react to "our own" group being hurt.
I think this is a fundamental human defense mechanism. We tell ourselves that the mothers of Sudan (or any other "faraway" place) don't suffer the loss of their children the same way we do; that their prospects for their children are diminished to begin with, and therefore their loss isn't as heart-rendering as ours would be.
If we weren't able to distance ourselves from the faraway horrors in this way, we wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning. Thus, this is a natural survival technique.
I am not explaining this very well, and not condoning, either, but I think that a normal person might sometimes feel it is necessary to use the telescope front-to-back, to make the horrible images appear further away.
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