Shock of the News.

Abstract

The article comments on art exhibitions by the Swiss artist, Thomas Hirschhorn, specifically at Barbara Gladstone Gallery which probed into the nearly imperceptible boundaries between Western consumerism and violent world conflict. He has long been deeply antagonistic to fine art preciousness and to museum or gallery esthetics that emphasize art as something rare, exquisite and remote, which led him to use common stuff like cardboard and newspapers.