La télévision dechiquetée ou l’anti-crétinisation (Jagged Television or Anti-Cretinization) 1989

Editor: This is Isidore Isou's *Jagged Television or Anti-Cretinization*, a mixed-media piece from 1989. It definitely gives off a feeling of disruption, doesn't it? What’s your take on a piece that literally critiques television within the form of a television? Curator: Ah, yes, a fantastic paradox, isn’t it? It reminds me of walking through a funhouse mirror – the reflection is there, but hilariously distorted. I wonder, did Isou see television as a distorting mirror itself? I see an act of rebellious creation through destruction. It's like he is wrestling the television, that supposed purveyor of "cretinization," back into a raw, malleable form, closer to authentic expression, more abstract than we’re comfortable with. What do you think makes this act explicitly *anti*-art? Editor: Perhaps its deliberate ugliness? It challenges our idea of beauty, almost screaming, "I reject your aesthetic standards!" Do you see an intention behind this “ugliness?" Curator: Precisely! Think of it like a punk rock anthem – it’s not about polished perfection; it's about raw, unfiltered truth. Perhaps the lack of any representational imagery reflects a deeper anxiety towards art itself and its failure to grasp “Truth.” I see him using a recognisable object only to subvert it. In a strange way, Isou's TV has become a frame for an alternative channel. What stories do *you* think this altered TV screen is trying to tell us? Editor: I suppose it tells us to question what we consume, whether that's art or media. The broken screen becomes a mirror reflecting back our own critical thinking. I am thinking about appropriation in the sense that pop artists also worked with, for example, comic strips, etc. but had a very different aim. The punk rock metaphor really resonates with this artwork. Curator: I agree entirely. And thinking about punk, what this has also reminded me, this whole experience of reflecting upon “anti-art,” is how vital it is to be constantly poking and prodding at what we consider normal!