Bad Art

Colin McLaughlin-Alcock and Mariel Gruszko

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Samfundsvidenskab

A Podcast About the Politics of Art in the 21st Century

3 dage siden

America's Birthday Parties Then and Now

We look back at the man who called himself the “bicentennial president” — Richard M. Nixon — and the 1976 celebration he helped to plan. Examining the politics of past U.S. birthday parties, we ask what they can tell us about the present. How much has changed? We also spend some time talking about the World Cup and how much more fun it is than the Semiquincentennial. Yay 250! Episode research draws heavily on two books: Bicentennial! A Revolutionary History of the 1970s. by Marc Stein. and America, USA. How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries. by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: V74QN6AQR9FWQX55

59 min.
8. jun.

Oh The Inhumanity: On A.I. Art

Today we take on A.I. art. We discuss the following references: Duesterberg, James. 2023. “Neither Governed Nor Free.” Boston Review. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/neither-governed-nor-free/ Crabapple, Molly. 2026. “Is AI The Greatest Art Heist in History?” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/apr/12/is-ai-the-greatest-art-heist-in-history Winegar, Jessica. 2008. “The Humanity Game: Art, Islam, and the War on Terror.” Anthropological Quarterly. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/247134 Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: 6NQ7DGMK7CONG047 Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

54 min.
19. maj

“Relooted,” The Art Heist and Repatriation Video Game. With guest Akil Fletcher. E13

We’re joined by Akil Fletcher, an anthropologist who studies the intersection of video gaming and race. We discuss “Relooted,” an exciting new art heist video game, where players raid Western art collections in order to steal art and repatriate that art to Africa. For more about Akil or to read his scholarship: https://www.akilfletcher.com/ Mariel reads from the book “Mumbo Jumbo” by Ishmael Reed Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: VT7FDOTUQHGIAEMJ

1 t. 18 min.
15. apr.

Social Death

Reflecting on current events, Mariel and Colin discuss the proliferation of atrocity images on social media. What is at stake when these images are treated as a tool of political mobilization? References: Sontag, Susan. 2003. Regarding the Pain of Others. Eubanks, W. Ralph. 2025. Emmett Till Then and Now. in Bulletin by Monument Lab. Hernandez, Joe. 2021. “Read this powerful statement from Darnella Frazier, who filmed George Floyd’s murder.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000475344/read-this-powerful-statement-from-darnella-frazier-who-filmed-george-floyds-murd Jackson, Jenn. 2022. “The Militancy of (Black) Memory ” SAQ. https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-9825933 Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: B8YVHLPEYANQ7MQB Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

1 t. 16 min.
17. mar.

Can Art Solve Poverty? – (The Creative City Episode)

This episode is a deep dive into the “creative city” model of urban planning. We talk about the ways that influential urban planners like Richard Florida and Charles Landry have promoted investment in the arts as a way to solve urban problems. We will answer the question, can art solve poverty? (Answer: No). Key Sources: Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class. Landry, Charles. The Creative City A Toolkit for Innovators. Melamed, Samantha. “Can this tiny storefront save Philly’s most drug-ravaged neighborhood?” Philadelphia Inquirer. March 30, 2017. Denmead, Tyler. The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race, and the Gentrifying City. Mould, Oli. Urban Subversion and the Creative City. Montgomery, Alesia. “Reappearance of the Public. Placemaking, Minoritization, and Resistance in Detroit.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 2016. Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: YAP7TI2AQAAXNTJR

1 t. 13 min.
2. feb.

Bad Art's Halftime Spectacular

In anticipation of the Super Bowl, and in response to conservative outrage over the selection of artist Bad Bunny as halftime performer, we present a deep dive into the history and politics of the NFL’s halftime show. Major Sections Include: Introducing the episode 00-1:30 Reflecting on current events 1:31-15:00 Recurring halftime themes and the identity of the NFL 15:00-24:52 The history of the halftime show 24:52-34:38 Nipplegate 38:48-49:16 Racial politics in the NFL 49:16-70:00 Michael Jackson’s Unprecedented Super Bowl Spectacular 70:00-74:46 The 2020s 74:46-78:27 Bad Bunny 78:27-end We used clips from: Super Bowl XXVI “winter magic”: https://youtu.be/6wMXHxWO4ns?si=wtqMFHe45ts4SE37 Up With People at Super Bowl XIV https://youtu.be/2ruQ1tj4MDA?si=KfMAbNwTtfnBk_Ab Michael Jackson – Super Bowl XXVII 1993 Halftime Show: https://youtu.be/EsopN7JKUVs?si=oVd7-bkO338aXluL References: As N.F.L. Fights Racism and Sexism, Team Owners Undercut the Message. New York Times. 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/sports/football/woody-johnson-trump-jets.html Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, Kiana Cox and Kiely Hurst. 2025. “Views of Race, Policing and Black Lives Matter in the 5 Years Since George Floyd’s Killing.” Pew Research Center. May 7. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2025/05/07/views-of-race-policing-and-black-lives-matter-in-the-5-years-since-george-floyds-killing/ Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: U1D0INK9CQ8QRL8S

1 t. 26 min.
5. jan.

Aesthetic Violence: Art in the War on Terror

Honestly, we just wanted to do a normal episode that didn’t react to current events. We thought that the War on Terror would be a somewhat stable historical artifact. – Then Trump invaded Venezuela, kidnapped its president, and stole its oil. So this episode is unexpectedly relevant. While we don’t comment on Venezuela directly, there are some important themes in thinking about the aesthetics of war that are unfortunately topical. References Ronak Kapadia. “Insurgent Aesthetics: Security and the Queer Life of the Forever War.” https://www.dukeupress.edu/insurgent-aesthetics Hirst Appologizes for Calling 9/11 ‘A Work of Art.’” The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/19/september11.usa Leerom Medovoi. “Dogma Line Racism: Islamophobia and the Second Axis of Race.” https://read.dukeupress.edu/social-text/article-abstract/30/2%20(111)/43/33720/Dogma-Line-RacismIslamophobia-and-the-Second-Axis?redirectedFrom=fulltext Jean Baudrillard. “The Gulf War Did Not Take Place.” https://www.amazon.com/Gulf-War-Did-Take-Place/dp/090995223X Rumsfeld clip from “Control Room.” 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCgfMdvk2n8&t=1390s Committee to Protect Journalists. Dataset of Journalists and Media Workers Killed. https://cpj.org/data/killed/country/?status=Killed&motiveConfirmed%5B%5D=Confirmed&motiveUnconfirmed%5B%5D=Unconfirmed&type%5B%5D=Journalist&type%5B%5D=Media%20Worker&start_year=1992&end_year=2026&group_by=year Caecilia Pieri. “Can T-Wall Murals Really Beautify the Fragmented Baghdad? https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/30661 “Michael Rackowitz Brings Destroyed Iraqi Art Back To Life.” Northwestern University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jXG1cXxE1Y Joshua Craze. “Junk Empire.” https://canopycanopycanopy.com/contents/junk-empire Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: DNUZSKHSHWIM3J1Q Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p Episode Artwork: Berghan Oil Fire. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bergan_oil_field_fire.jpg

1 t. 14 min.
09.12.2025

It's Brutal

“It’s Brutal!” Trump, Architecture, and American Authoritarianism. (Weird Little Architects Part II). E08. In this follow up to our episode on Trump’s “Weird Little Architects” (E06) we examine the ways that architecture has been instrumentalized by the Trump administration. Through a close look at the Executive Order “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” and at administration comments around the renovation of the White House, we show how architecture is used by the administration to advance its authoritarian and white supremacist projects. Major sections include: Trump’s Architecture Program. 00-37:00 Fascist Aesthetics and the Demolition of the White House. 37:00-56:00 Brutalism and Modernism as a Contrast to the Trump Agenda. 56:00-81:00 We used clips from: “Justin Shubow Interviewed About Brutalism on Newsmax – Greg Kelly Reports” https://youtu.be/OFRpqpdCikw?si=clvtWq8TSQEO1viR “Stephen Miller: East Wing was Cheaply Built, Long Overdue for Renovation.” https://www.foxnews.com/video/6383815895112 Zoolander (2001) References: Krugman, Paul. 2025. “Trump’s Gilded Ballroom and the Fall of the American Republic.” https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trumps-gilded-ballroom-and-the-fall Koldehoff, Stephen and Tobias Timm. 2025. Donald Trump Has a History of Pulverizing Historic Buildings. Artnet. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/donald-trump-bonwit-teller-friezes-met-2132673 Benjamin, Walter. 1935. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Medovoi, Leerom. 2012. “Dogma-Line Racism: Islamophobia and the Second Axis of Race.” Social Text. 30 (2 (111)): 43–74. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-1541754 Compagnon, Madeline. 2020. “What Makes a ‘Beautiful’ Federal Building?” JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/what-makes-a-beautiful-federal-building/ Volner, Ian. 2020. “Trump Can’t Make Architecture Great Again Without an Infrastructure Plan.” Artnews. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/columns/trump-make-architecture-great-again-maga-classicism-1202677813/ We used a quotation: “The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” which should be attributed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: TPBUUIJWTSHGYJQ9

1 t. 20 min.

A Podcast About the Politics of Art in the 21st Century

Skaber

Colin McLaughlin-Alcock and Mariel Gruszko
Aktive år

2025 - 2026
Episoder

15
Vurdering

Anstødeligt
Websted for serie

Bad Art
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