All works exist in relation to a context.
Works can be read for political content by examining the ways, formally, subtly, obliquely, as well as overtly, they interact with that context.
If one of the salient features of context is understood by the person reading the work as »political,« then the work itself can be read in political terms by that particular viewer.
How well someone is able to parse a work’s relation to its context will determine the extent to which its meaning to or about that context (its »political« meaning) is understood.
If one wants to be sure of interpretation in relation to context, one must be more overt. Thus exists the category of works described as »political.« The maker wants to be sure you understand what they mean in relation to their context.
Me, I’m quite comfortable in uncertainty. This itself is a »political« value. I don’t tell you. Do I have a set of engagements and concerns about my context that the work addresses? Yes. Do I proclaim them openly? Are they easy or possible to read? Of this I’m less certain.
