Journalistic practices such as eyewitness accounts, investigative research and documentary photography and video—have become nearly ubiquitous in contemporary art. From the early photo-text works of Hans Haacke and Martha Rosler to Walid Raad’s data-driven presentations and the archive-like installations of Renée Green, artists have taken it upon themselves to tell stories that are often beyond the scope of mainstream media. In this slim but wide-ranging text, writer, curator and artist Alfredo Cramerotti categorizes such works as acts of aesthetic journalism, or art that investigates “social, cultural or political circumstances.” But the book is less a survey of the field, than a re-evaluation of the entire media landscape. By examining the intersection of art and journalism, Cramerotti retraces the very foundations of representation, reminding us that all productions, not just those defined as art, are aesthetic works that are partial and mediated. While the demise of objectivity is nothing new, the challenging part of Cramerotti’s text is his willingness to go beyond theory to boldly assert not only that art has become more like journalism, but that journalism should become more like art.

To begin with, he notes that aesthetic journalism is not limited to the art world, but can be found in documentary films and reality TV, blogs, and most strikingly, in advertising. Companies like Benetton and Siemens, he claims, have adopted journalistic techniques in their advertising campaigns not just to sell products but to inspire brand loyalty by advancing a worldview that appeals to their customers. Precisely because they combine real and aspirational elements—they make the fantasy seem attainable—such works are both potent marketing and aesthetic journalism.

Re-casting advertising as a form of journalism is a disturbing thought, but Cramerotti is careful to remind us that the most effective examples of aesthetic journalism are not only unabashedly biased but also call attention to their own failure to fully represent reality. He boldly proposes that traditional journalism enact this self-critique by adopting some of the strategies of avant-garde art, such as allowing for viewer participation, taking things out of context and exposing the means and conditions of production. In other words he calls for journalism to present itself as an open-ended work rather than a definitive statement.

Yet this proposition begs the question: Would journalism then become art? Cramerotti goes so far as to suggest that artists, journalists, musicians, poets, etc. all be lumped together as “media workers.” In that case, would artists have more influence on public opinion? Or would they lose the protected status of art as a place where it’s safe to experiment? Perhaps in the end the distinction between art and journalism is less important than that between fiction and non-fiction. But if all representations are subjective and necessarily incomplete, how does one determine what is true? If nothing else, Aesthetic Journalism is a call to us—consumers and producers of media—to keep asking that question.

This review was commissioned by art on paper, which suspended publication before it could appear.

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