Mediatised collage aesthetics can immunize provocation against censure

Evidence

It was perhaps the unplaceability of any of the utterances on Hex that allowed Smith to escape censure for the notorious line, “where are the obligatory niggers?” in “The Classical”. Intent was unreadable. Everything sounded like a citation, embedded discourse, mention rather than use. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1171

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in craft/method and how form shields meaning — parallels Egan’s Goon Squad and media-theory reading of plunderphonics/sampling. — connects to: Multi-screen collage could produce overwhelming then tender emotional effects — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York…, 966; Collage fragments force a double reading against origin and new totality. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 348; Media captions can invert a placid image into a symbol of threat — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the…, 132
• QUESTION: Is ‘mention rather than use’ a genuinely protective mechanism, or does it legitimize racial slurs by laundering them through form — and where does that line sit today?

Broader Connections

• Collage fragments force a double reading against origin and new totality. #expands (0.80) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 348
• Multi-screen collage could produce overwhelming then tender emotional effects #expands (0.75) — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 966
• Media captions can invert a placid image into a symbol of threat #exemplifies (0.72) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 132