dissent
Danielle Durchslag
Danielle Durchslag, Dangerous Opinions, Video collage, 2019 (Original footage from Dangerous Liaisons, 1988)
Curatorial Statement by Liora Ostroff
Danielle Durchslag’s Dangerous Opinions frames and critiques American Jewish political discourse and the extent to which this discourse is censored. It does not matter what Durchslag’s character, Diane Segal, actually says about Israel: in this world, criticality of any kind is contemptible.
As you view this video, you may consider: What is safe to say, and when? How has American Jewish discourse been restrained?
Artist Statement by Danielle Durchslag
My BOUNTY series, which includes Dangerous Opinions, explores the political and psychological complexities of American Jewish wealth. I make work about the Jewish 1% because I come from it. My great grandfather, Nathan, started as an immigrant peddler selling shoes door to door, and ended his life as a business giant, the founder of Sara Lee and a lauded philanthropist.
BOUNTY draws from my past to expose the psychological contours of American families like mine, immigrant dynasties who came into their wealth in the mid-20th century. These works explore the influence of wealthy, Protestant, capitalist dynamics on Jews who attained enough money to witness American wealth firsthand.
Families simultaneously afraid of the very real, and currently growing, threat of anti-Semitism and its long rhetorical connection to Jewish money and enamored of their recent positions as centers of political and philanthropic influence.
Danielle Durchslag, Still from Dangerous Opinions, Video collage, 2019 (Original footage from Dangerous Liaisons, 1988)
The series explores the phenomenon of WASP drag, in which rich Jewish clans copy the rituals, aesthetics, and rules of the Christian aristocracy, in in the hopes that a subtle kind of passing as American royalty will equate with long term security. Despite their attained affluence and power, I have found that, for most wealthy American Jews, a feeling of being in danger pervades. This results in an obsessive, anxious focus on continuity, censorship around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and other "unpleasant" topics, and a commitment to focusing on and identifying with Jewish victimhood above all else.
Works in BOUNTY include live action film, sculpture, and, as with Dangerous Opinions, video collage. My video collages take footage about family wealth from across cinematic history and employ animation, voice performers, and editing techniques, to imbue these classic scenes with Jewish content. Dangerous Opinions employs original footage from the 80's classic Dangerous Liaisons, altering it to tell a story about the social peril of criticizing Israel, even for moneyed and powerful Jews.