All art is political, the problem is that most of it is reactionary, . . . 
passively affirmative of the relations of power in which it is produced. . . .  
I would define political art as art that consciously sets out to intervene 
in (and not just reflect on) relations of power. . . . And there's one more 
condition: This intervention must be the organizing principle of the work 
in all its aspects, not only in its "form" and its "content" but also its mode 
of production and circulation. 
 -- Andrea Fraser, quoted in Gregg Bordowitz, "Tactics Inside and Out," 
Artforum 9 (2004) 

To break free from the cycle of commodification has been one of many underlying motivations for the resurgent interest in collectives such as the Situationists and in the aesthetics of the everyday. And yet art's power as cultural resistance and convivial exchange has been viewed with skepticism and increasing cynicism by those who are most invested in art's potential -- perhaps a feeling or sensibility shared by the editorial board of Social Text in recent years, as evidenced by the virtual absence of essays that directly engage with art and aesthetics.