In her first book, a performer and art critic offers a potpourri on
cultural border-crossings. During the 1970s, the mixed-race,
Cuban-descended Fusco "didn't look oppressed enough for white
liberals or black enough for cult nats." By the next decade, she
notes, the hybrid world(s) of multiculturalism had become her home.
In a group of diverse personal essays, she offers a trenchant,
undogmatic diary of several trips to Cuba, commenting on Cuban art
and exile; other essays, including one on black popular culture and
another on the "politics of appropriation" - white artists
appropriating aspects of subordinate cultures - are heavy going.
Also specialized is the book's second section, which includes
essays on artists like Pepon Osorio, whose installations invoke
Puerto Rican migration; and Lorna Simpson, whose photo/texts probe
racial and sexual identity. However, Fusco's creativity lifts the
book's most accessible pieces, notably a report on a project in
which she and collaborator Guillermo Gomez-Pena posed at museums as
newly discovered Amerindians from an overlooked island. They
performed "traditional tasks" for museum-goers - including working
on a laptop computer. This exercise provoked some disturbing
reactions, ranging from discomfort on the part of people of color
to paternalistic outrage by whites. A final section includes two
interesting dialogues with Gomez-Pena, who calls Tijuana "one of
the biggest installation art pieces in Mexico" and warns against
"facile pan-Latin Americanism." Two radio scripts close this aptly
titled book. In one, Fusco and her partner muse with wit and irony
on false boundaries in the Americas, noting the Latin American
presence in US cities and the penetration of North American pop
culture down south. Thought-provoking in parts, abstruse in others.
(Kirkus Reviews)
A collection of Coco Fusco's writings on art and media and a new
piece on culture appropriation. It also documents Fusco's
collaborations with MacArthur Award-winning artist Guillermo
Gomez-Pena, and includes the scripts they created for National
Public Radio. Also included are Fusco's perceptive essays on the
the contemporary artists Lorna Simpson, Pepon Osorio, Juan Sanchez,
Ana Mendieta and Isaac julien, as well as an interview with Andres
Serrano.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
