This lecture considers the place of children in cultures of terror. It returns to the scandal of baby killing in the American war in Vietnam, as represented in the work of Martha Rosler, Carolee Schneemann, and Nancy Spero, to reflect upon the significance of violence against children in terror’s imaginary.
Mignon Nixon is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at University College London and an editor of October. From 1996 to 2016, she taught the history of post-World War II American Art at the Courtauld. She is the author of Fantastic Reality: Louise Bourgeois and a Story of Modern Art. Her recent publications include the Mary Kelly October File (2016) and essays on Carolee Schneemann, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Lawler, and Nancy Spero. Her current book project is Sperm Bomb: Art, Feminism, and the American War in Vietnam.