In N.Y., patriotism and its discontents

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http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-et-swed3sep03,0,5996464.story
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
In N.Y., patriotism and its discontents
By Mark Swed
Times Staff Writer

Sep 3 2004

NEW YORK — Anyone following the Republican National Convention might be forgiven for thinking that the right pretty much owns the nation's most precious symbols — the flag and the Constitution. At least this week. The protesters and protester-artists gathered here, on the other hand, are often portrayed as lacking reverence for these symbols. Artists, after all, don't hesitate to use the flag and other American icons for whatever purposes they choose. Protesters sometimes break the law.

The situation is not nearly so clear-cut, however. In fact, a battle is raging in New York galleries, theaters and community centers, and on the streets, over patriotism and all its trappings. At the exhibition "The Freedom Salon," at Deitch Projects in SoHo, the map of the United States is one such symbol that gets worked over. Siemon Allen turns a glossy rendering of the U.S. into what looks like an angry, braying animal. For another piece, Yoko Ono supplies a rubber stamp that says "IMAGINE PEACE" for visitors to use on another U.S. map.

No matter how much Republicans wrap themselves in red, white and blue, the left hardly appears ready to cede the Constitution to its opponents. Wednesday afternoon, several celebrities gathered at Cooper Union to participate in a reading of the document, and who would have thought that this dryly written charter, however inspiring its ideas, could provide such gripping drama? After a preamble beautifully delivered on video by West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Mandy Patinkin took the stage to begin. Richard Gere, Kathleen Turner and Blair Brown were among those who joined him to read the articles. For the amendments, Laurie Anderson and Bill Irwin showed up with several others. Martina Navratilova had to excuse herself, the program noted, because of a tennis commitment.

Whenever the words "impeachment" or "removal of the President" occurred, the clearly Democratic audience burst into applause. First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams read that amendment, carefully emphasizing every word and generating loud cheers. Ossie Davis read the 13th Amendment, outlawing slavery, with oracular power, bringing the house to its feet. Betty Friedan gingerly walked onstage with a cane but became a pioneering young feminist all over again with her twinkling, satisfied reading of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.<snip>