For all its good intentions, art that tries to minister to its audience by showcasing moral aspirants and paragons or the abject victims of political oppression produces smug, tiresome works that are failures both as art and as agitprop. Artists and critics—their laurel bearers—should take heed.

Right now, at what can feel like a time of moral and political emergency, we cling to sentimental bromides about the importance of art. We treat it as an escape, a balm, a vague set of values that exist beyond the ugliness and venality of the market and the state. Or we look to art for affirmation of our pieties and prejudices. It splits the... See more

To measure art only by its ability to convey a message is to “demand propaganda.” It’s a pretty common perspective, especially in many online spaces today, but I think it should be avoided because it is an incredibly limiting and frankly, almost pedantic lens through which to view art. It reduces the work of art from something complicated, nuanced,... See more