This is Art—These People are Artists: Pacific Standard Time, Conceptual Art, and Other Momentous Events from a Local Point of View

Abstract

It is complicated in these days of Occupy Wall Street to keep one's priorities straight. For those of us who do cultural work, producing knowledge or objects in the vicinity of art, the space we occupy is increasingly marginal. When faced with the Arab Spring, or the stirring of Lower Manhattan by the restless and roving 99 percent, or even whe n confronted with the flagrant displays of consumption back in force in the mainstream art world, it can feel remarkably beside the point to be producing much of anything except a sign or sandwich board.