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In step with Gramsci: an interview with Alfredo Jaar.

Article Excerpt
The mode of being of the new intellectual can no longer consist in eloquence ... but in active participation in practical life, as constructor, organizer, "permanent persuader" and not just a simple orator ...

Antonio Gramsci, Letters from Prison (1)

These words of Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist and humanist, may aptly describe the artistic position of Alfredo Jaar, the Chilean-born, New York City-based artist who has chosen the commutative strategy of being an active intellectual for more than twenty-five years. By virtue of his expressive medium, Jaar creates evocative artworks that not only inform viewers about the tragic events all over the world but also attain a personal meaning for the artist and viewers alike. The artist impels and organizes public perception in such a way that viewers are inspired to take action and confront issues.

With the geography of tragedy dictating the itinerary of his travels, Jaar is driven by his dynamic social position to find the places where the intervention of humanity is urgently required such as Angola, Nigeria, North Korea, Rwanda, and Vietnam. Visiting combat zones, the artist portrays what often has been marked as "unrepresentable"--trauma, pain, and grief. Without further didactics, his message is clear and empowering, interrogating and demanding a resolute position in response to the world of injustice and torment. (2)

Although Jaar intends to remain invisible and eliminate his subjective view from the visual scene, the artist is nevertheless present through his choice of interpretive strategies that speak not only to just a western audience but reach beyond the boundaries of narrow localization.

Using installation, video, and photography, Jaar manipulates light and mirrors as media to bring about transient qualities of light and time. These two, in turn, articulate the spatial architectonics and, when combined with other parts of the artwork, form installations where one is simultaneously an interpreter of an artwork and the means of its affect, whereby every detail affects various stimuli of human perception. In so doing, Jaar forces the viewer to decode the emblematic signs and compose meaningful connections between the actual and implied, visual and imagined. While providing almost minimal information, the artist orchestrates the medium through a musicality consistent with his metaphoric references. Whether it is an image of an exploding galaxy, which denotes the dissemination of Gramsci's ideas, or flickering TV screens that hint at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's media empire, the medium reinforces collective and subjective interpretation.

Jaar is equally able to respond to the anguish of the Other. The haunting language of a metaphor is essential for the artist on a personal level...