Boedi Widjaja

Art is only a continuation of war by other means

2016. Yinchuan Biennale, Yinchuan Art Museum. Curated by Bose Krishnamachari. Commissioned by Yinchuan Biennale. Supported by the National Arts Council.

The outdoor installation is a couplet, comprising of two lines: “Art is only a continuation of war by other means” and ‘War is only a continuation of politics by other means”. The latter is a quote from "On War", a book by military strategist Carl Von Clausewitz and the former, by the artist. Both texts reference an unverified quote by China’s first Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai: “Diplomacy is only a continuation of war by other means” as reported by American journalist Edgar Snow.

Hovering between being read and seen, the work contemplates the entwinement of global art, mass media, war and politics; a specific moment where geopolitical tensions are simultaneously negotiated through cultural economic policies and military power.

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