Gary Maahs
UTE HARING'S PRESSESCHAU SERIES
The series of prints (etchings combined with linocuts
[Kaltnadelradierungen mit Linolschnitt, according to the artist] ) I want
to discuss here is named appropriately the Presseschau series. Its implicit
(or explicit?) criticism of the media cannot be overlooked. Presseschau
is a German term referring to a public television show broadcast regularly
on Sundays where journalists converge to debate topical issues. Some critics
may argue that usually only mainstream views are heard even though journalists
from liberal papers (such as the Sueddeutsche Zeitung or the Frankfurter
Rundschau) are invited occasionally. They are "minoritaire," of course.
And the opinions voiced by these "left-wing liberals" deviate only marginally
from what their "adversaries" have to say. Or so some people critical of
the show feel.
Regardless of the opinions voiced, the "show" quality
cannot be seriously denied. Today, whether we speak of NBC, CNN, or a German
PBS network, the trend is towards if not info-tainment then at least what
the Germans call "Inszenierung", a strategy that presupposes a "metteur-en-scene",
a producer, a strategist who directs the way we look at a pre-arranged
segment of reality.
Ute Haring seems to take up this criticism of today's
media and their subtle or not so subtle ways to manipulate our perception
of "reality."
Presseschau 2
A work like 'Presseschau 2' (Press show, #2), in an almost
expressionist manner that is faintly reminding me of works by Kaethe Kollwitz
and similar artists, drastically shows three persons in the background
gagging an onlooker while forcing her to watch - presumably the news on
television.
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