October 10, 2007

NBC Universal to Sell Young Women

"We want to create a virtual women's network where we go to market selling young women and affluent women in a way that virtually no one else can," NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker said yesterday in a conference call with reporters and analysts. (Washington Post, Business page 1, 10/9/07).

It would be tedious to enumerate all of the many things wrong with Zucker's statement. (Where are The Yes Men when you need them?)

Instead, I suggest a visit to WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It's massive and it's required viewing. It also constitutes an interesting contrast to the Morris Louis show at the Hirshhorn. If you were trying to explain to someone the shift from modernism to postmodernism, now would be a good time. WACK! demonstrates that new forms of artistic practice come about by necessity. You can find here early examples of nearly all now familiar conceptual art strategies. Save time for the many, many films and videos. The show can easily consume a whole afternoon. Also, Linda Nochlin will speak at the Katzen Center on Friday, November 30 at 2:00 PM. I heard her speak in New York last winter; she was brilliant, witty and on the mark. (The image on the catalog cover is a detail from a Martha Rosler collage.)

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