ABSTRACT
As we began suggesting in the general introduction to this book, the extracts of interviews selected below illustrate the hold of professional logics characterizing differentiated art fields, organized according to a high level of self-reference and internal division of labor. In such professionalized and specialized spheres, appropriate and valued activities are those exclusively driven by the corresponding specialized-here esthetic and artistic-rationalities and principles.1 In the context of the Iraq War in particular, art professionals have found themselves confronted with the costs and risks of mixing the logics of activism with those of art. Since innovating in art responds to particular codes and norms, “agitprop art” or “activist art” is rarely assimilated with “avant-garde” creation by esthetic authorities. Consequently, the division of activities-separating the practice of art as usual and occasional interventions outside of the realm of the profession-has remained preeminent and the creation of political art circumvented into marginal circles (such as “engaged singers” and “troubadours” in the music field). The production and circulation of politicized work have sometimes been made possible by the creation and circumstantial use of parallel channels, often in connection with activist networks. Specific music labels and web pages linking music professionals and militant groups, aimed at the diffusion of anti-war songs, have emerged for a limited period of time, for example. Documentary makers have relied on contacts with activist organizations such as Moveon.org to find an audience for politicized films. Hybrid organizations-conceived as intermediaries at the intersection between the artistic and the political spheres-have been created to bridge professional activities with activist initiatives and collectives: the company Participant Media-associated with the production of movies like Good Night and Good Luck (G. Clooney, 2005) or Syriana (S. Gaghan, 2005)— was such an enterprise to coordinate differentiated activities in the film industry.
