Not NP: Telling The Truth Through Lies

[barbara100 at jps.net]

Telling The Truth Through Lies

Ariel Dorfman talks about the role of art in times of war and what it will
take to create a viable peace movement.

B Y   F I O N A   M O R G A N

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There are many ways in which artists can react to terrible events that they
either suffer or witness. You know, the mere fact that in the midst of war
one continues to write truths, in the midst of dictatorship one continues to
keep language alive. Because war and dictatorship tend toward deception.
They twist words. So the mere fact of doing this--I'm talking especially of
writers here--of attending to language as foundational--of accepting, for
instance, ambiguity, or exploring the territory between black and
white--this is in itself a very important way in which an artist can
contribute to a better world. So you can show the children screaming, and
you can also show the tomato growing.

[  ]

I don't understand why Colin Powell felt that this painting would be
interpreted as directed against the U.S. bombing. Why do they feel alluded
to? Why doesn't he turn around and say, "And here is what Saddam Hussein
wants to do to the American people"?

You know why? Because the painting itself will not allow itself to be used
in that fashion. The painting is about military men who from afar bomb
civilians. Picasso is talking about the innocents who will be sacrificed for
the interests for the powerful. "Guernica" denounces both the U.S. military
adventure and Saddam Hussein's treatment of the Kurds, the Southern Arabs,
the Shi'ites, his own people. But when Colin Powell loses the chance of
pointing to "Guernica," he points the finger at himself, saying, "I intend
to do this."

[  ]

http://indyweek.com/durham/current/ae.html