ART & POLITICS, 2011
An interview with curator Nato Thompson
by Barbara Pollack



Can the Wall Street protests be considered public art? And should all art aspire to make the kind of impact that street theater, community organizing efforts and anti-Tea Party rallies aim for? Those were some of the questions raised at the third annual Creative Time Summit, held at NYU's Skirball Center on Friday, Sept. 23, 2011. Organized by Creative Time chief curator Nato Thompson, the roster featured speakers whose activities stretch the definition of art, including pioneer sanitation artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles; Women on Waves, an organization that literally ships abortion services to women in countries where the procedure is illegal; and Dan S. Wang, an artist and organizer reporting on the labor protests in Wisconsin earlier this year.

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