Ai WeiWei, Pussy Riot and the Power of Punk Art: An Interview with James Panero

"In the case, recently, of Ai WeiWei and Pussy Riot...what differentiates this new form of political art? I realized that they have a punk aesthetic," says James Panero, Managing Editor of New Criterion, to Reason TV's Kennedy.

The protest art created by the Chinese artist and the all-female Russian perforamnce art collective bear the idioms of punk as well as it's defiant anti-authoritarian streak, according to Panero. He believes their art is "having a real effect" as the "conscience of reform" against the authoritarian governments under which they live.

About 4.33 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Camera by Jim Epstein and Fisher.

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