Dial-a-Radical

For an organization with Banker David Rockefeller as its chairman and Governor Nelson Rockefeller on the board of trustees, Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art is bankrolling an incongruous enterprise. As part of the museum's current exhibit on "Information," a poet named John Giorno contributed a sort of Dial-a-Radical service. By telephoning (212) 956-7032, the public can hear one of more than 600 predominantly revolutionary, tape-recorded messages.

One of them is "Revolutionary Letter No. 7," which advises the caller: "There are those who can tell you how to make Molotov cocktails, flamethrowers, bombs, whatever might be needing. Find them and learn . . ." Poet Allen Ginsberg chants mantras. Weatherman Activist Bernardine Dohrn announces that her group will bomb a symbol of "American imperialism."

For this public service, the museum is paying $284 a month for tapes and telephones. But is it art?

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.