Karen Fiss is a writer, curator, and professor of visual studies at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Before participating in the Zócalo/MOCA panel “Is Art Our Last Safe Space?” she talked in the Zócalo green room and gave her shortest definition of nation-branding—which she studies—revealed her favorite museum, and shared the books she’s re-read the most.
If you had one more hour in the day, what would you do with it?
Dance more with my son. He’s a serious ballet fan.
What food are you most likely to binge-eat?
Sushi.
Who was your childhood hero?
My grandmother, who was a painter in Germany, who I never met.
What’s your elevator definition for your area of study: “nation-branding”?
It’s the application of corporate logic and practices to the marketing of nations. I didn’t come up with the term. It’s actually a trillion-dollar-a-year industry where a small group of very well paid consultants are actually brought in to analyze a country’s strengths around things like culture, tourism, landscape.
What’s your favorite museum?
I like quirky museums. I like small museums. I love the Wadsworth [Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut]. That’s not so small.
What’s the best decision you’ve made?
To take chances. And to have children. And not to be scared to be outspoken, which gets me into trouble.
Where did you travel to last?
New York. Johannesburg. And Accra, Ghana to give a paper.
What book have you re-read the most?
Andreas Huyssen, Present Pasts. And Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Philosophy of History,” an essay.
Whom do you go to for advice?
My husband.
What comes easily to you?
Organic chemistry and drawing.