Campus Collaborations / Private Frontiers: Media Legacies of the Cold War

Bookended by the end of World War II in 1945 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Cold War was a transformative period in global history, marking both the end of the twentieth century and the waning of modernism. Though earlier historians defined the Cold War as the noncombative contest between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union, recent interventions by scholars, artists, and writers have stressed that this period was also defined by the struggles for decolonization and national liberation movements across Asia and globally. Undeniable to the history of the Cold War is the crucial role that culture played in shaping perceptions of individuals, nations, and the global order, circulated through media such as international magazines, photographs, and television. _Private Frontiers_ presents new and recent work in photography, video, and installation by contemporary artists who critically engage the Cold War as a prism for understanding today's media-saturated world. Through their methodologically-driven practices, artists Naeem Mohaiemen, Prajakta Potnis, TJ Shin, and Tiffany Sia draw on a range of references—including historical archives, news broadcasts, pop songs, and game theory—to critically examine media as a crucial arena in which politics was articulated and contested in the second half of the twentieth century. By looking carefully at how art and politics were entwined in the media of the past, these artists offer a way for us to carefully engage with the politics and art of our contemporary moment.