Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Review of Keri Percival and Greg Cook @ Green Lantern

Here's my Newcity review of Boston-based artists Keri Percival and Greg Cooks's show, "The Hall of Natural and Despicable Wonders," on run at the Green Lantern gallery until October 4th. I particularly enjoyed Cooks' exploration of the American lust for war, from the Pilgrims' pillage of Native American life up through to the present day "despicable" treatment of prisoners at Gitmo, in addition to our country's overarching obsession with "victory" in Iraq.

Watching the Republican National Convention, was painful, I must admit, especially hearing Palin's discussion about achieving "victory" in Iraq no matter the odds. What exactly, is she talking about? We ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, then failed to provide the kind of security necessary for the power vacuum in the country at the time, which helped contribute to the insurgency, and we dismantled the Iraqi Army, leaving thousands without jobs, and if there's a crisis over there now we hold a large share of the responsibility. Regardless of the question of what should be done to remedy the situation, I think using this type of demagoguery, i.e. "victory," only goes to show Palin's staggering lack of knowledge about world affairs (we already know this from the Alaska comment). What's frightening is her overwhelming ignorance, and that there are people out there (a large group actually) who eat up her "strong-sounding" words like candy.

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