implicit art

Went to go see Susan Sontag speak yesterday, at WSOA – Wits School of Arts. Her extremely opinionated, often tangential, very ‘new-york,’ occasionally crude, or even rude, disposition was exactly what I needed for a breath of fresh air ;)
Amongst interesting ideas about the photographic image’s influence on contemporary culture (HUGE, but nice to hear her say that text still takes the cake), she had some very insightful things to say about the South African artist’s hard place of feeling responsible for the ‘image’ of their home country, in addition to trying to produce provocative work.
The highlight (other than Sontag’s Bush-bashing, and my calling her ‘swell’ on the microphone) was the ever-intelligent Jo Ractliffe’s comment/question about the intent behind said framing (ie photography) and where, with that in mind, we might discuss ‘beauty’ in- and outside of the artspace. Sontag’s reply was, ‘I agree with you. Er, with what you are implying.’