Meditations on ‘Evil’

Christopher Knight’s discussion of the “Mirroring Evil” show at the Jewish Museum avoids the critic’s task (“The Evil That Museums Do,” April 7). Dismissing a show isn’t very helpful to someone who hasn’t seen it. This is the second article this year (the other on healing and arts) in which he raises good questions only to subvert his purpose by blowing the argument out of proportion.

Knight may be in a better position to make aesthetic judgments about the visual life than I am (I teach literature, which may have a different set of interpretive concerns, although I doubt it). My experience of “Mirroring” suggests that its audience did grapple with some important issues. Aside from the fact that I think some of the works were impressive, and some of the arrangements ingenious, the show explicitly asks not to be judged in purely conventional artistic terms.

Whenever one enters the world of figurative language, and especially when trying to promote a seemingly incongruous perspective, one risks trivializing one thing or another. Added to this is the obvious fact that all analogues, “representations” or even reflections on the Holocaust are precarious. Thus, for example, I agree that the video material referring to Calvin Klein is banal--but that made some of the good stuff more effective, in a surprising way. And surprise is part of this exhibit.

The theory on Holocaust representation or on reflections on representations is by no means definitive when it comes to figuring out what is permissible, serious or trivial. While I agree that there was something self-important about the show, I continue to reflect on its contents and to discuss it with friends--both those who have seen it and those who have not. In the case of “Mirroring Evil,” Knight may not appreciate the importance of some of its questions for the many people who are burdened by Holocaust memory, and still others who may need to think about the varieties of its dilemmas.

WILLIAM CUTTER

Hebrew Union College

Jewish Institute of Religion

Los Angeles