Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Art of Controversy

Two Thoughts for Tuesday




Thought #1 - Is it Funny or Offensive?

A few posts ago, I was talking about how many fountains are placed around Kansas City.  Our city is also very prolific in it's placement of "art".  Quotes?  Why the quotes, you ask?    If we were talking face to face, I would have done the whole air quotes thing, when I said the the word art as you and I might not consider the following examples of art....  well...as art.

Depends on who you ask, I guess.  As Kansas City leaders have so little to argue about (being sarcastic on a grand scale here) they are in a debate on what to do about the sculpture that presently sits near the police communications building in downtown KC.

Terry Allen's sculpture "Modern Communication" is looking for a new home.  There seems to be a number of citizens that find the "art" objectionable.  They feel that the placement of the piece out in front of the communication building suggests that the police don't listen to the citizens they serve.  In their point of view this sculpture is just a big insult to the police department.

The alternate point of view is that the statue represents a humorous point of view of how difficult it is to communicate in our modern world.

I have no idea why this argument has been so prominent in the news in the last couple of weeks.  This statue has been here for 15 years.  Perhaps, it is a change of subject away  from talking about the high heat or it is giving people a diversion from talking about our bad economy.

Still the art piece is going to be moved and there is the debate of what to do with it.  Some of the piece's detractors lucked-out when the police communications building was slated for an addition that forced the statue to be relocated.  But where is up for discussion.

Three possible options are being discussed. 

A.  Give it back to Terry Allen (the sculptor)
B.  Put it into storage.  Not a particularly popular option as the $78,000 price tag that the city (tax payers) paid for it deems that  option rather wasteful.
C. Find a new spot around town to use it.

With option C. in mind, the more creative Kansas Citians have been pretty vocal in their suggestions as to "Where you can put your statue".

How about on the steps of the federal building as a nod to how effective communication seems to be on the Federal level these days?

More than a few people believe it should go sit on the lawn of the Kansas City Star headquarters. 


Thought #2 Is is Flirty or Filthy?



Comparatively speaking, statue for statue, Chicago has bested us on statue controversy.  Our diminutive "foot in mouth" sculpture is nothing compared to Chicago's new sculpture. At 26 feet tall, the statue of Marilyn Monroe looms over Michigan Avenue. 


The statue is that of Marilyn on one of her most famous poses with white skirt  billowing up to the sky and panties for all to see.The original pose was taken from the 1955 movie "The Seven Year Itch" and has become iconic. Photos of the pose became popular with Marilyn hugging her knees together and providing a small glimpse of her underwear.









So much for small glimpses....




Seems that Marilyn's skirt isn't the only thing  stirring up the air.  Heated debate over the appropriateness of  Marilyn's exposed undies is rippling throughout Chicago. Abraham Ritchie who blogs for ChicagoNow deems the statue as  involving  sexist and downright creepy.  Others have spoken out that the statue objectifies women.

Of course, there are others that are viewing the statue as fun and original.  Men in particular seemed to be honing in on photo ops.

If we look at art as a thing to provoke thought and discussion, both of these statues do that.  What one looks for and appreciates in art is subjective.  Each to his own.


What are your thoughts on either of these statues?  Do you think they are in the appropriate venue?  Are either of them offensive to you?


The Good for the Day...Sometimes statues get placed just in the exact right spot




The Bad for the Day... The disagreements of "what constitutes art?"

The Weird for the day....There are plenty of examples of art that a least some of the population would consider weird.



There is a sculpture in Prague on the grounds of the  Franz Kafka Museum that move via microprocessors so they "write out" quotes with their urine of famous Prague residents. Tourist, however, can interrupt the messages and text their own messages to be "peed" out.   (according to the article the number is displayed next to the sculpture is  +420 724 370 77 )






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