“9/11 as Avant-Garde Art?”

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Mary Grabar

What does my colleague, professor of performance studies at New York University, conclude?  Writing in the ever-so-prestigious journal for members of the Modern Language Association, Richard Schechner concludes, “I cannot settle in my own mind the question of whether 9/11 in itself is art or can be more fully understood under the rubric of art” (PMLA October 2009).  These ruminations come after assessments of other like-minded critics and spending 9/11/01  on his patio about a mile away watching people jumping from the burning towers.

He analyzes  the coverage as “made-for-television drama series,” as he contextualizes the event into the tradition of avant-garde art.

He notes,

“By mainstream American standards, the 9/11 attack was evil. . . . However, from the perspective of performance studies, the attack on the World Trade Center was a performance: planned, rehearsed, staged, and intended both to wound the United States materially and to affect and infect the imagination.  The destruction of two iconic buildings, and the murder of so many people in one fell swoop, was intended to deliver a very specific message about the boldness of the jihad and the vulnerability of the United States.

A performance, surely, but art?  I believe that the attack can be understood as the actualization of key ideas and impulses driving the avant-garde.  Thierry de Duve writes. . . . “

Well, you get the picture.  The “perspective of performance studies” is evil too.  As for me, I’ll keep my ”mainstream American standards,” Professor Schechner.

Tags: 9/11, avant-garde art, MLA, performance studies, PMLA