Following in the wake of the BP Oil Spill and amidst the looming double-dip recession, the slippery play of intention, effort, and outcome by authorities is at the center of this issue. Highlights include Renzo Marten's conversation with Niels Van Tomme about Martens' film Episode III and Martens' fierce critique of contemporary art's claims for political and social change, as well as Eva Heisler's discussion of Matts Leiderstam's incursions into traditional painting and academic research by contextualizing his insertion of a gay male subject position into art historical narrative. The issue also includes a review by Sam Durant of the exhibition Kurt at the Seattle Art Museum, Aaron Peck's examination of the exhibition Kerry James Marshall, and David Trigg's review of Kerry Tribe's Dead Star Light.
