felix gonzalez-torres

I think gonzalez-torres' work is great (mostly because i agree with him) but i do take issue with having a dead person in the biennale. firstly, it seems to disrespectful to the rest of the art world, who are actively making art right now. retrospectives are for museums or galleries. secondly, it smacks of the same ineffectual liberal "we really are doing something, see?" that manifests itself in a grammy being given to the dixie chicks or michael moore or al gore winning an oscar.

has the cannon gotten more political? of course not, and the selection of G-T proves it.

there is nothing wrong with the cannon being more political, contemporary art is exactly that. the moment's best artists can be making great art about now. choosing a dead artist who made great art about a moment that was similar from a decade and a half ago (and involved many of the same people) says more about how little art has changed (both itself and the world it is commenting on) than where art is going. at least a living artist would give us some hope.