The drug circuit: media and art in contemporary criticism

Abstract

The exhibition Una linea de polvo, arte y drogas en América Latina made a convergence between the field of plastic and visual arts, and the phenomenon of narcotráfico. According to curator Santiago Rueda, the idea was to understand “the dimensions of a global problem”, expanding the idea of “narcotráfico” to a greater understanding of the issue as a “narco problem”, marked by a strong presence of media culture. The works exposed imploded the distances between media and art, generating a shift from the place of traditional art criticism to having to deal with issues that encompass an unrestricted field of propositions that pass through economics, medicine, law and international politics in the scope of aesthetics, ethics and culture. In this way, art criticism is built in the interface with other domains to deal with this kind of contemporary production, privileging the media field.