Massive Attack V Adam Curtis (Discussion Panel)

This was an discussion panel hosted by Graham Sheffield of the British Arts Council to discuss the issues explored in the production of "Massive Attack V Adam Curtis", which include the financial crisis, the media, and political corruption.
It was hosted in the Park Avenue Armory in New York on the 3rd October 2013, and was streamed live across the internet.
The panelists include:
- Contemporary philosopher Simon Critchley, who presents the highly-acclaimed On Truth and Lies series of talks at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
- Joyce Barnathan, president of the International Center for Journalists, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing quality journalism worldwide.
- Alexis Goldstein, contributor to The Nation, the Washington Post and The American Prospect, and Occupy Wall Street campaigner.
Visit MASSIVEATTACK.IE - massiveattack.ie/

[@zaloo]

i hope Adam Curtis was filming Joyce Barnathan's silent, uncomfortable facial expression sequences for use in an Adam Curtis joint.

[@greenvelvet]

So....no Adam Curtis. Right.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

Adam comments on individualism as the problem, how we no longer form movements, and all these people do is jab about their individual rights and individual expression.

[@MassiveattackIe]

This was an arts panel hosted by the British Arts Council to discuss the issues explored in the production of "Massive Attack V Adam Curtis", which include the financial crisis, the media, and political corruption. It was hosted in the Park Avenue Armory on the 3rd October 2013 and was streamed live across the internet.

[@asumazilla]

Interesting and frustrating conversation.

[@billallen2126]

i am embarrassed to be a u.s. citizen (for many excellent reasons) yet these women (journalists?) are making me squirm. why are they here? they are older (not chronologically) than me, they think 'shock and awe' is a massive attack. i respect adam curtis' work; his scope is epic, and his conclusions are 'spot-on'. there is no reason to see things that are not there; nihilism might be the more accurate worldview: unless you have a cushy job at newsweak/cnn. when she says, "twitter is the best thing that ever happened", i thought, 'what a zombie'. she implies that if you weren't 'there', that you cannot connect with this work. well, if you trust adam curtis' (and you should) he'll point you in the right direction; then your own research can reduce the 'signal to noise' ratio. as a journalist, adam curtis has gotten people to say the most amazing things (often indicting themselves) in their own words. this discussion had a comparable, revealing effect on these ignorant people.

[@KrisenVareEVIGT]

I wonder how she feels about twitter now...? x-)

[@Drforbin941]

Yes. I totally agree. What a bunch of idiots

[@daviddidomenico7620]

Brilliantly put

[@zaloo]

i completely agree about Barnathan (the Newsweek person). she is a DNC neoliberal type, pretty obviously. which COULD be interesting... but she was obviously uncomfortable being there and really disagrees with Curtis' questions but doesn't want to let on. or doesn't see anything wrong. it sounds like you didn't notice Alexis Goldstein at all though. granted i wish she had talked more, but she definitely belonged on the panel. and she did her part.

[@drutter4515]

Well said. But I thought Alexis Goldstein did pretty well.

[@scientifico]

Watching this in 2023 and the older woman is being proven wrong in so many ways that its quite funny. She reflects the ignorance of her class and position and makes me wonder what quality of journalist she is and who she serves.

[@drutter4515]

Agree. She seems like a woman of her time. Her responses seemed too thoughtless and blunt for such an immersive piece of art.

[@kayem3824]

These types of boring people murdered art.

[@captainbirdseye1558]

This conversation is a shame. The show was an incredibly experience but these folk seem solely intent on self congratulation.

[@johanneskiessling4085]

„Once upon a time“ watching „massive attack“ I would have loved it and considered it a brilliant work of art. However… that was a time when I still believed that art could have an effect on society. But we should know for some (a long) time that art is dead. Art only exists between a work of art and a viewer (listener etc.) whose original apperception / thinking would lead to a critical „review and comparison of worlds“. As can be read from even this discussion this viewer has all but died out. (Hence, art is dead). Joyce: „We are in the middle of the revolution“ has become „We are in the middle of the global corral“ in which we all mill around and mill around and mill….

[@johanneskiessling4085]

Comment continued: (Hence, art is dead). Joyce: „We are in the middle of the revolution“ has become „We are in the middle of the global corral“ in which we all mill around and mill around and mill….

[@windokeluanda]

Help, help. Please, somebody help here. What is the name of the person that is mentioned at minute 61 related with the non-network problem?

[@drutter4515]

Know its way to late for this but its Moxie Marlinspike

[@windokeluanda]

@@drutter4515 you are a good soul. Thank you so much for the help. Have a beautiful week.

[@jalalnowhereman7034]

18:00

[@drutter4515]

Yup...

[@torozanromica9815]

subtitle ?

[@drutter4515]

An interesting discussion. But the older woman (journalist) seemed to be firmly set in her black and white thinking. Her responses were very flat and one-dimensional for such an immersive piece. Maybe she didn't fully grasp that this was supposed to be an art piece and not a conventional documentary. Or perhaps she expected it to just report what it was trying to say, like the news... Contemplating the nuanced critiques of modern times, music, imagery and then extracting meaning from some of the thoughts it ought to have provoked, seemed to be a bit beyond her.

[@harrydebastardeharris987]

Middle Class double talk,it means nothing because they are too timid to tell it like it really is and have no idea perhaps what life is really like for the people they are talking about whereas Massive Attack do and did.

[@trainrover]

Art is short for artificial.

[@UpperVIP]

Well done! Now see those bricks over there? The round ones go in the round holes and the square ones ... you'll work it out, off you go...

[@trainrover]

Truth is, venturing over toward originality would amplify your e n d l e s s s s brain ache, yeah.. .. . .

[@shareyourfare]

Post-war ist pre-war; wouldn"t you tend to agree to this statement (?), Mr. Adams?! :((! Curtus, sorry. :) - I very much share your worldview, and most of the ”#insights“ your master-pieces of „documentary art film” present! Nobody has ever made such great documentary films, with deep dark British Humor inside, you are a real good Story-Teller, Mr. Adams, and Truth-Teller, „Aufklàrer“, News-Scout ->NewsLeader => Opinion Leader, and I wish I could translate your films into German, so we Austrians, the Suiss and the Germans could also understand... If I ever find the time, I will translate this to German, I'd honored to be the „German Voice“ of London"s (and worldwise's) most credible Crrème de la Crème : Story-Teller ;)“, you know, with John Pilger & Abby M., Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and such, ... ...or at least create German subtitles, I swear it to you, but I might only be able to do this in a few years, cause I got other things to take care of now. If you want to come to Vienna, and record a German version, I will gladly volunteer to be the story/teller, and I promise you, I got a nice voice, and can hold the pauses, and keep things in tact. I would chose to translate and sell „Hypernormalisation“ first, they will show this on public most hopefully :((, because I really want that the German speaking societies can #understwnd what you tell, Mr. Adams! It makes me very very happy, to watch your films, Mr. Curtis, #hmm.m, Adam Curtis, just like in: Brian Adams Tony Curtis - or: The Adams' Family? Oh no !!! - Adam Curtis, I'll translate this into German, step by step, once I retire, in some years I really want to do this, especially the Film about After-War Germany, it was very much the same kind of lostness and depression, but many old Nazis survived, and were still there after the occupation. There are few film-makers I admire as much as you, Mr. Curtis, there lies a lot of truth in your films, your lines are just great, have never heard a better Story-Teller in my life, no kidding! And I grew up in the theatre, so I know what I'm talking about: All in all: I like your stories, and I like the pictures you chose, to show them, plus: I like the sound-trwcks, and also the dramaturgy, - and mostly the #truth, that"s within them, finally one story-teller, who will answer our questions, and who tells us what really happened „those days“.. . No Freedom Without Truth, Mr. Curtis, just as BLM claims, and any true worker party or people's movement! Without people like you, people like me would think that everybody in the world has gone crazy or blind; today the normal people are crazy, and the crazy people are "the average“ Today, the money-whores are the most noble health-warriors and patriots.... Way too many „grand suckers“ are sucking all of us out in way too little time... Well, it is just the very same, as it has been happeninf for centuries, even for thousands of years, or even, since humans bagan to realize, that „holding power“ is something very #desirable for the owner, but not always for others. Greetings from the heart of Vienna, Austria, Jürgen Wilfried Linder