Go, Read: Art Spiegelman On Becoming Involved In The Charlie Hebdo/PEN Awards Affair

Kirsten Salyer talks to Art Spiegelman for Time.

In what seems like a solid summary interview for its size, Spiegelman holds forth in terms of where he's coming from and what led to his involvement with the PEN/Hebdo awards controversy. The length of the piece could also be a boon for people that want to boil this down to winning arguments, as Spiegelman's language is colorful and designed to get his points across quickly and to maximum effect. Language like that can be seized upon for their effect rather than understood for their meaning -- that's just the way Internet discourse is now. Still, it feels like a solid snapshot to me; Spiegelman is one of the more articulate cartoonists there's ever been and the most able defender of the values he holds.

I'm intrigued by his notion that the differences between the Pamela Geller group and the Hebdo staff is not only something worth noting but may be the thing worth our attention in this matter. The key may be in whether one sees any differences at all. If you do, that doesn't mean that the value of statements by those groups can't be pulled apart, examined and criticized; they surely can, and they will be. There's something very powerful about the notion that we don't get to define the context in which we would prefer work to be seen, infinitely more so in these connected times, and I think there's a lot of discussion to be had as to how that has an impact on the value of the satire we encounter, the art that we negotiate.

One the other hand, if you don't see a difference or two, if these two acts are the same, I'm not sure what there's left to talk about other than underlining the virtue of the resulting position and sorting through potential outcomes in terms of their desirability.

You can find footage of the evening here.
 
posted 12:05 am PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives