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3
evaluate and explain the absence of visible opposition to the Iraq War during the
past four - almost five years.”3
The six-part questionnaire emphasized two key points. First, that the Bush
Administration had spread fear about speaking out due to the signing of the USA
Patriot Act. This act had “dramatically reduced restrictions on the law’s ability to
search” personal information such as “telephone calls and e-mail”4 in order to
“deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States.”5 Secondly, many felt art
world critics were placing less value on political work so many artists chose not to
engage with it in order to protect their careers and livelihood.6 It Is What It Is was
quite unique in light of these circumstances as Deller was supported both
conceptually and financially in making a work about Iraq; it was the artist’s
ambiguous opposition to the war that distanced him from the circumstances
outlined in the questionnaire.
Deller’s conversation based strategy as well as his interactive and
collaborative tactics were emblematic of the social practice movement which
reemerged as a prominent genre in the 2000s. The movement continues to be
critically theorized and is currently being represented to the public through
various institutional sources, both academic and cultural. It Is What It Is is an
3 Buchloh and Churner, “Questionnaire,” October Journal 123 (Winter 2008), 4. Originally from:
Alexander Cockburn, “Whatever Happened to the Anti-War Movement?,” New Left Review 46
(July/August 2007), Introduction.
4 Wikipedia. (February 20, 2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act (accessed
February 19, 2011).
5 FinCEN, US Treasury Department. http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot/ (accessed March
9, 2011).
6 Buchloh and Churner, “Questionnaire,” October Journal 123 (Winter 2008) p.30
Object Description
| Title | Sites of production: An examination of Jeremy Deller's It is what it is: Conversations about Iraq |
| Author | Kopp, Rebecca Nichole |
| Author email | rkopp@usc.edu; rnkopp@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Public Art Studies |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Public Art Studies |
| School | School of Fine Arts |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-05 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-04 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Holte, Michael Ned |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Jacob, Mary Jane Decter, Joshua |
| Abstract | For little over a decade artistic practice in the United States has become intently “focused upon on the sphere of inter-human relations” (Nicolas Bourriaud). Contemporary theorists have presented a variety of ideas concerning the resurgence of this artistic tendency that emerged half a century ago. Using It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, which was presented across the U.S. and at three major museums in 2009 by British Turner prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, as case study to further delineate this artistic form of expression, this thesis addresses recent theoretical developments within the broader social practice movement. Deller’s project emphasized the complicated nature of these theories in action within the contemporary moment, and testified to its heightened use in the public sphere through shifts higher education and institutional programming. The evaluation of Deller’s piece emphasizes the art-historical importance of this work and more broadly contends with the contemporary conflict between those who debate art’s ability to transform consciousness within the public sphere. |
| Keyword | social practice; Jeremy Deller; Iraq; dialogical practice; public sphere; public art |
| Geographic subject (country) | Iraq; USA |
| Coverage date | 2000/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3881 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Kopp, Rebecca Nichole |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Kopp-4545 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Kopp-4545.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 8 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 3 evaluate and explain the absence of visible opposition to the Iraq War during the past four - almost five years.”3 The six-part questionnaire emphasized two key points. First, that the Bush Administration had spread fear about speaking out due to the signing of the USA Patriot Act. This act had “dramatically reduced restrictions on the law’s ability to search” personal information such as “telephone calls and e-mail”4 in order to “deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States.”5 Secondly, many felt art world critics were placing less value on political work so many artists chose not to engage with it in order to protect their careers and livelihood.6 It Is What It Is was quite unique in light of these circumstances as Deller was supported both conceptually and financially in making a work about Iraq; it was the artist’s ambiguous opposition to the war that distanced him from the circumstances outlined in the questionnaire. Deller’s conversation based strategy as well as his interactive and collaborative tactics were emblematic of the social practice movement which reemerged as a prominent genre in the 2000s. The movement continues to be critically theorized and is currently being represented to the public through various institutional sources, both academic and cultural. It Is What It Is is an 3 Buchloh and Churner, “Questionnaire,” October Journal 123 (Winter 2008), 4. Originally from: Alexander Cockburn, “Whatever Happened to the Anti-War Movement?,” New Left Review 46 (July/August 2007), Introduction. 4 Wikipedia. (February 20, 2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act (accessed February 19, 2011). 5 FinCEN, US Treasury Department. http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot/ (accessed March 9, 2011). 6 Buchloh and Churner, “Questionnaire,” October Journal 123 (Winter 2008) p.30 |
