(no subject)
A statement by the Smithsonian's Secretary on the controversy surrounding the Hide/Seek exhibit.
I've been talking about this controversy with many people over the past several weeks, and still I can't seem to get very worked up about it on a personal level. While I don't agree that the video should have been pulled, I also don't blame Clough for making that decision under pressure. Some people have even called for his resignation. Just looks like it's good exposure and the satisfaction of righteous indignation for both sides.
I saw Hide/Seek a couple weeks ago, and I did enjoy it as a whole. Most though-provoking piece to me -- a pile of candy assembled to match the healthy weight of the artist's partner who had died of AIDs. Museum-goers are encouraged to take a piece of candy to "share in the sweetness" of their relationship -- and in doing so, contribute to the diminishing and disappearance of the symbolic person, and have a sort of communion with the artist and each other. I had been curious to see if the exhibit was going to be at all shocking, but aside from the photo entitled Felix which kind of terrifies me, it was interesting but tame. Example: I had heard people were complaining about the picture of Ellen Degeneres in a bra, and wondered how Ellen could possibly be obscene. Answer: she isn't. She kind of looks like a mime, even a sad mime, just in underwear.
But I thoroughly enjoyed the Alexis Rockman exhibit. Cryptozoology, plants, twisted fables, and Guyana (the huge-size mosquitos and rancid lotus-lined drainage ditches are totally authentic) all in gorgeously painted large paintings.
I've been talking about this controversy with many people over the past several weeks, and still I can't seem to get very worked up about it on a personal level. While I don't agree that the video should have been pulled, I also don't blame Clough for making that decision under pressure. Some people have even called for his resignation. Just looks like it's good exposure and the satisfaction of righteous indignation for both sides.
I saw Hide/Seek a couple weeks ago, and I did enjoy it as a whole. Most though-provoking piece to me -- a pile of candy assembled to match the healthy weight of the artist's partner who had died of AIDs. Museum-goers are encouraged to take a piece of candy to "share in the sweetness" of their relationship -- and in doing so, contribute to the diminishing and disappearance of the symbolic person, and have a sort of communion with the artist and each other. I had been curious to see if the exhibit was going to be at all shocking, but aside from the photo entitled Felix which kind of terrifies me, it was interesting but tame. Example: I had heard people were complaining about the picture of Ellen Degeneres in a bra, and wondered how Ellen could possibly be obscene. Answer: she isn't. She kind of looks like a mime, even a sad mime, just in underwear.
But I thoroughly enjoyed the Alexis Rockman exhibit. Cryptozoology, plants, twisted fables, and Guyana (the huge-size mosquitos and rancid lotus-lined drainage ditches are totally authentic) all in gorgeously painted large paintings.