Context in Art as Political Discussion: Amalia Pica`s Venn Diagrams
One of the multiple interesting pieces currently being exhibited at the New Museums <a title="https://cortell.net/blog/2012/03/the-ungovernables-party-at-new-museum/" href="https://cortell.net/blog/2012/03/the-ungovernables-party-at-new-museum/" target="_blank">The Ungovernables</a> is Amalia Pica
s Venn Diagrams. The text under this piece says:
During the period of dictatorship in Argentina in the 1970s, gatherings of citizens were closely monitored as they were considered a threat to the government. At the same time group theory and venn diagrams were banned from primary school programs as they could provide a model for subversive thought.
Brutal and ignorant as any other dictatorship (or even more if you wish), I knew Argentinian Military Junta was capable of something as absurd as this and more (like banning Sigmund Freud`s doctrine and exterminating psychoanalysts… in Argentina of all places!), but since it seemed so shocking, I went on and researched a little.
Here is a detailed account of what happened: Who is afraid of a vector? By Mauricio Schoijet.
When discussing Art as Political Discussion (even more than when discussing Art), there is never enough context.