Zócalo Public Square

At a Zócalo/MOCA event moderated by Artillery editor Tulsa Kinney, Rhodes College art historian David McCarthy, ceramicist and Gulf War veteran Ehren Tool, and writer, curator, and professor of visual studies at the California College of the Arts Karen Fiss discussed the intersection of art, war, politics, and commerce. The wide-ranging conversation touched on the work of contemporary Swiss installation artist Thomas Hirschhorn as well as Picasso's Guernica and even Jeff Koons as the panelists tackled the questions of whether artists are obligated to address war in a time of war, and whether art creates unique safe spaces to consider hot-button issues.