Frank Shifreen writes

We packed the work of a hundred New York artists into a borrowed Winnebago and drove 600 miles to Detroit, where we then mounted and hung an exhibition called " Ground Zero" July 13th-Aug. 24th 2002
at Musuem of New Art in Detroit (www.detroitmona.com)
In September 2001, I was trying to help save Cuando, on Second Ave and Houston St. with a group of other artists including Patricia Parker, Jackson Krall, Carla Cubit, Aki Kimoto et al.

After Sept 11th, we decided to call the show "From the Ashes". The show was primarily a memorial and benefit for those lost.

As the politics of the situation became apparent, for instance, cultural clash, Republican ascendancy, rights and war violations, as well as possible entree event for great cultural changes to come,
felt it was important to organize an exhibition that would confront
these issues, as well as the government propaganda that elevated the likes of Giuliuani, Ashcroft and Bush.

Danny Scheffer, Julius Vitali, MONA director Jef Bourgeau and myself, organized the exhibition. which opened to great fanfare last Saturday. There were a lot of preview articles, television and radio coverage for the show. There was a front page story, lead article in the Detroit Free Press on July 10th.

I believe in the important of political art exhibitions that can explore topics of importance to us. Many artists and critics disagree.
They see politics as an intrusion, that propagandizes and muddies art.
Walter Benjamin, and later in another context, the Situationists believed that all art is political. That fascism in any form creates an aestheticization of politics (hollywood, hype, constructed narratives, demonized enemies ) that can be countered by art that expresses the truth of these relationships. Art that conceals its political nature allows for the smooth functioning of the dominant order. The Situationists critique is that our society is a mediacracy,
where all the media, politics and busines create a soap opera story. The celebrities, politicians are the actors and stars, and the people are passive consumers living through the media.

Art can create a space which breaks the spell of the soap opera. In this case I am talking about the whole narrative of the Bush administration that has created a story that has become the gospel
of September 11th.

We need more political art exhibitions, theater, dance, poetry because the beauty of art also counters the repression of spirit in our society.
We will also do a renegade art exhibition in New York on Sept 11th.
Believing that renegade art can be a deterrant to renegade terrorism.
More information will be on www.digitalmuseum.org , detroitmona.com and other websites.