Robert Boyd's Xanadu installation at Moderna Museet examines mediated violence in post-9/11 era
Xanadu, a video installation by Robert Boyd from 2006, is part of The New Human exhibition at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. This work juxtaposes historical footage of war and genocide, addressing the heightened aestheticization of violence following 9/11. Accompanying the visuals is George W. Bush's State of the Union address and a disco song by Olivia Newton-John, all set against a spinning mirror ball. The piece features scenes of riots and destruction spanning the 20th and early 21st centuries, particularly reflecting on the summer of terror attacks in 2016. The article also cites historian Walter Laqueur regarding terrorism's media portrayal and Karlheinz Stockhausen's controversial comments on 9/11, exploring how artists engage with modern violence.
Key facts
- Robert Boyd's Xanadu installation (2006) is exhibited at Moderna Museet in Stockholm
- The work features George W. Bush's post-9/11 State of the Union address
- A mirror ball spins while Olivia Newton-John's disco track plays
- Intercut images show 20th and early 21st century violence including war and genocide
- The article references 2016 terror attacks in Nice, Istanbul, Ankara, Munich, Berlin, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Sagamihara, Orlando, Fort Myers, Syria, Yemen, Chad Basin, and Burundi
- Historian Walter Laqueur notes terrorism's dependence on publicity
- German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen called 9/11 'the greatest work of art imaginable'
- The article originally appeared in ArtReview's September 2016 issue
Entities
Artists
- Robert Boyd
- Walter Laqueur
- Karlheinz Stockhausen
- Olivia Newton-John
- George W. Bush
- Adel Kermiche
- Father Jacques Hamel
Institutions
- Moderna Museet
- ArtReview
Locations
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Nice
- France
- Istanbul
- Turkey
- Ankara
- Munich
- Germany
- Berlin
- Dallas
- United States
- Baton Rouge
- Sagamihara
- Japan
- Orlando
- Fort Myers
- Syria
- Yemen
- Chad Basin
- Burundi
- Normandy
- New York
- Washington, D.C.