'I Feel I Should Be There' Says LG Williams
This press release hijacks the sentimental human-interest template of political crisis reporting and turns it into a portrait of artistic self-insertion. Against the backdrop of turmoil in Tehran, Williams is made to feel that he "should be there," though the autobiographical links dissolve into evasions, absurd family memory, and comic uncertainty. The piece mocks the media's appetite for poignant diaspora narratives while still acknowledging the seductive force of revolutionary images and distant suffering. Williams's response--wanting to revise his material, speak, and make it funny--exposes both the vanity and the necessity of art under political pressure. It is a brutal little study of how artists metabolize crisis: moved, confused, opportunistic, sincere, and ridiculous all at once.
- DATE:
- June 23, 2009
- DOCUMENT TYPE:
- Essay / Critique
- NAMED ARTISTS / FIGURES:
- LG Williams; Merritt Stephanie; Banksy
- INSTITUTIONS / VENUES:
- USA Today; Tehran; Arkansas; AutoRequiem
- KEYWORDS:
- Tehran turmoil as art opportunity; self-insertion as media form; should be there as conceptual motivation; sentiment template hijacked; crisis journalism as art form; political human-interest parodied