Rebecca Moccia and Christian Caliandro on Art as Distance and Neovernacular

In a letter exchange published on Artribune, artist Rebecca Moccia and art historian Christian Caliandro discuss the necessity of distance in art-making. Caliandro argues that art and writing must come from outside life, not from within the action, citing war reporters like George Orwell and Michael Herr as examples. Moccia responds by emphasizing that art is magnetically attracted to action, living in a state of perpetual desire. The text also explores the concept of "neovernacular," described as naive yet sophisticated, brutal, and consciously stupid, rooted in peasant and ancestral traditions. References include Carl Gustav Jung, Andy Warhol's "Piss Painting" (1978), and films by Joris Ivens and Luigi Di Gianni.