Louise Lawler at Sammlung Verbund, Vienna

Cady Noland at MMK

Essay: Protest and Survive

"The assignment for today, though, is to look at exemplary artistic strategies of the 80s that altered the rules of the game, or tried to. In the popular imagination it’s a period that represents avarice, careerism, selfishness – the oft-quoted “greed is good.” And yet, because of a deadly spectre (which some saw as divine retribution), an articulation of rage, and the prospect of mutual selfdestruction that weighed on a generation, we witnessed a banding-together, people organising themselves with a common purpose..."