Ok! here is the deal. I'm not an artist but I know what art I like. Artists need people like me to appreciate what they do or they starve. Come to think of it if they had to live on what monies I devote from my pocket to art they ALL would starve. I might trade and barter though. Then through eBay they might make a a few bucks...
Anyway! Art I like has to usually make sense. I do like some of the stuff that is like inkblots and you have to guess what it is. I also like the find it pictures like "Where's Waldo". And mazes. But I learned early in life if you start in the center and work out it is easier.
But I digress. ... Rereading I find this whole post is, so far, digression...
~~~~~~~~~
In London at Trafalgar Square there are four "Plinths" or large bases for statues. One of them, the Forth Plinth has been vacant since it's construction initially due to insufficient funds but left empty due to political arguments over what to put there.
Use for the empty plinth has temporarily been settled with a deal called "One & Other", "A grand project that is meant to stretch the boundaries of sculpture by placing 2,400 people on the square’s usually vacant fourth plinth, for an hour apiece (only one at a time), from now through Oct. 6."
"This is not about privilege, not about power, not about war or honoring the dead," said the artist, Antony Gormley. "It’s about celebrating the living." Britons (only) are lifted to the empty plinth by a 'cherry picker' and you can watch. The website has a disclaimer that there might be offensive content and Gormley stated in an interview, "Nakedness is absolutely essential," ... "Nakedness is to art what the ball is to football."
London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, had a different take: “It’s a triumphant meditation on the themes of fame and glory,” he declared. “My friends, someday your plinth will come.”
The idea seems simple, but has been fairly complicated to pull off. More than 17,000 people have applied for the slots, mostly through the Internet, with winners — who have to be over 16 and living in Britain — selected by a computer algorithm that accounts for geographical diversity. The slots for September and October have yet (at the time of this posting) to be filled.
Well I only have seen two people so far and I'm still waiting for the art...
In the first 24 minutes I saw one lady holding her hands in supplication to the sky, bringing them down to a prayerful attitude, then bending to place her hands on the ground, then back up to the sky. Some kind of art or perhaps just a statement that I could not understand. She should have set up a sign to proclaim what the heck she was doing. Praying to the Living God or worshiping the sky and earth... The next gal I saw was tearing Kleenex (Reg TM for facial tissue) into little tiny pieces and allowing the wind to litter the city with it. An hour of littering London with bits of paper is art? ... Well I am glad I'm not paying for it. Nor do I have to clean it up. I'll sit entranced wondering if she might have to blow her nose and if she will tear that one into little pieces.
At least it is not a crucifix in a jar of urine, a picture of Mary made from elephant dung nor a bullwhip up some rectal aperture's anal aperture.
This gal with the Kleenex looks self satisfied like she really accomplished something. They are now coming with the cherry picker and the replacement. Some character wearing what looks like a cow costume.
Now That is ART!
~~~~~
Technorati Tags -
Forth Plinth -
One & Other -
Art -
~~~~~
|