The Puppet show at the ICA

Upon entering the exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania's ICA, you are introduced to a variety of puppets via a corridor which leads into the show. These appear to be almost cultural remnants of "childhood" in a vague general sense, but at the same time of "childhoods childhood" if that makes sense. Thinking about the relevance of puppets in an age where Jim Henson does not necessarily rule the stage of imagination anymore for children, I wonder how many children of today are even familiar with movies like the Dark Crystal. To the generation of those of us who grew up with these sort of icons, we can look back to the age of puppetry with a sort of distant stare. Recently having made one of Noel I felt an even more intimate connection to the exhibits theme. It seems rather culturally relevant to me, however, in a more socio-political way, that a show about puppets would be fitting in this era. Especially coming from the contemporary art world whose artistic recognition and fame rest on the idea that they are willing to be manipulated by those with money and power within the art community. Removed from the art sphere, we as consumers have become the puppets of commercial producers, we as citizens have become the puppets of political powers, and so on. It is an important things to think about: Who holds the strings of your symbolic controls?