Alfredo Jaar on Bringing Reality Into Focus

Alfredo Jaar illuminates truths that often escape popular consciousness. Through his work, the artist and filmmaker raises awareness about sociopolitical issues that have been forgotten, suppressed, or ignored, including genocide and the displacement of refugees. Simultaneously, he informs and engages viewers, urging them to be present for those who need their attention most. With all that he makes, Jaar maintains a heightened sensitivity to the limits and ethics of representation. His aim? To provide viewers with a different perspective on the world and reveal their connections to its many crises—and to be moved to act.

Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1956, during a time of intense media censorship, Jaar early on developed an understanding of how to discuss injustices through a different kind of language. He immerses himself deeply in the subjects he documents, which have included Brazil’s Serra Pelada gold mine and the 1994 Rwandan genocide. While Jaar’s work focuses on specific events, there’s a haunting sense of timelessness to it. Take his landmark “A Logo for America” project, which points out that when we say “America” and mean “the U.S.,” we’re claiming a region that is only partially our own. Shown around the world, it has gained multiple new meanings since its 1987 debut. Currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of its 2022 Biennial (through Sept. 5) is a video by Jaar, amplified with special effects, of the 2020 police attacks on demonstrators in Washington, D.C.

On this episode, Jaar speaks with Andrew about how tragedies reveal inequities, gathering multiple perspectives to understand global issues, and slowing people down so that they can see. 

Special thanks to our Season 5 sponsor, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.

Show notes:

• Full transcript
• alfredojaar.net
• [03:43] “Manu”
• [06:36] “Between the Heavens and Me”
• [23:56] “Lament of the Images”
• [54:54] Nicolás Jaar
• [01:01:09] “Rushes”
• [01:03:32] “Cries and Whispers”
• [01:11:22] “A Logo for America”
• [01:18:25] “The Rwanda Project”
• [01:20:40] “Six Seconds”