cynicism beyond critique

"Cynicism, now complicity, tastes like pink spun sugar. In a culture where needs appear to be embodied in objects, where fantasies of the imaginary are deflected by their surfaces, it seems more than likely that the materiality of arts has the potential to heighten its political and social effectivity. At one level, the new irony is problematical; will the cynical self-knowledge of the position art faces against the entertainment and advertising industries ultimately construct an alternative which centers upon a different sense of desire? Will irony ultimately shatter the sense of closure and futility that is concomitant with cynicism? In other words, will art resist a facile compliance in order to gain communicational power?"

Sarah Morris, linguist and visual artist.