Epis.328: Ben Davis, National Art Critic for Artnet News and author most recently of Art in the After-Culture

<p><a href="http://www.benadavis.com/">Ben Davis</a>, Artnet News's National Art Critic and author most recently of <a href= "https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1662-art-in-the-after-culture"> Art in the After-Culture</a>, talks about:</p> <p><strong>Cultural Appropriation</strong> in its many forms, including in the context of Dana Schutz’s controversial “Open Casket” painting; <strong>Conspiracy Theory culture</strong>, including how videos connecting Marina Abramovic with satanic cults are far, far more viewed than videos about Marina Abramovic herself or her work; the culture that Conspiracy narratives come from, how they persist (often through individuals’ alienation), and why they become so popular; the luxury of people who get to say ‘neener-neener-neener’ in judgement of those who buy into them (the socially superior judging the inferior); Rubem Robierb’s ice sculpture at a fancy club during Miami Basel, which spelled out Greta Thunberg’s “How Dare You” addressed to politicians, and what that said/says about <strong>Art and Ecotopia</strong>, i.e. art and climate change; his experiences with the groups ‘Extinction Rebellion’ and its splinter group, ‘Extinction Resilience,” and his continuing involvement with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), among other causes.</p>