The show called “Zero Tolerance”, now at PS1, is one of the best things to see in New York right now. Its most potent works document people’s efforts to alter the political status quo; some of the art tries to do the altering. Today’s Daily Pic is a still from a music video by Halil Altindere called Wonderland. It films downtrodden teens in Istanbul who use rap to air grievances against the system. It’s both charming and heartbreaking, and totally compelling. Other great pieces include documentation of a public performance in which women in Russia went up to policewomen and suddenly kissed them – a gesture of affection becoming a subversive and aggressive act, without quite losing its tenderness. (“Why can’t you be nice?” is its implied, and optimistic, message.) There’s also (of course) a Pussy Riot video and work that’s about Tiananmen and other (mostly failed) public demonstrations. For a show with so much aggressive work, the final effect is poignant: Most of the grass-roots efforts it documents were undone by the powers that be. The art that’s on view knows that it won’t effect change, but can’t help trying – at least as a message that progress and fairness are ideals worth preserving. (Image courtesy Halil Altindere and Pilot Galeri, Istanbul)

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