Remote Control: Power, Cultures, and the World of Appearances

Kruger, an artist whose subversively direct works address such themes as power, sexual politics and money, is mostly on target as a social and cultural critic in these essays, reviews and prose poems originally published in Artforum , Esquire , the Village Voice and elsewhere during the last 14 years. She forcefully describes TV as a thought-control device, a powerful sedative that aims to satisfy viewers' needs for order, control and connection; and her critique is buttressed by a sophisticated analysis of documentaries, courtroom dramas and an array of popular series. Her brilliant movie reviews capture the creative ferment of experimental and international filmmaking and expose the pretensions of mainstream fare. The big and small screen predominate in this miscellany, but Kruger also has much to say on radio host Howard Stern (``crazily funny'' but also an embodiment of ``dangerously unexamined populism''), Andy Warhol, work, money and photography. (Nov.)