5 Questions with Matthew Jesse Jackson

What is art? In this 5 Questions interview, Matthew Jesse Jackson, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago and a leading expert on Soviet nonconformist art, challenges us to redefine the basic meaning of “art.” In doing so, he calls us to reconsider the role played by critics within the history of conceptual art. Considering technological determinism, Jackson argues that the “global” is no longer a useful notion today as it is not manifested evenly or concretely in cultures around the world. He concludes by advocating for a study of the everyday in Soviet official and unofficial art.