Is That What You Call Art?

Business is blooming and booming at the Overland Park, KS Arboretum and Botanical Gardens this week but not for the reasons you might think.  This  public garden on the south side of Johnson County is a beautiful 300 acre oasis in the metro area of Kansas City. It also is the topic of conversation resulting from a skirmish over the appropriateness of a statue that has been placed there.


Recently, the Arboretum was gifted 11 life-sized sculptures gifted to the garden by Chinese sculptors.  The long term goal by the arboretum is to place these sculptures into a International  Sculpture Garden that will be built to expand the Arboretum.

Thought Number One 

Art takes nature as its model.    ...... Aristotle




the Arboretum is an educational, recreational and
 cultural resource for the Kansas City region.

 

Thought Number Two

“Art without emotion its like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson

Well, then one of the donated sculptures that was placed at the Arboretum must be truly "art" as it seems to be making some people gag and it is certainly stirring up a whole lot of emotion.  The up- side to this flap about the questionable art,  is the attendance at the arboretum is up.  No firm figures have been released but a spokesperson has said the gardens are far busier than normal.

The controversy over one of the gifted statues started May 9th when  a young mother, Joanne Hughs,  accompanied by her husband and two small children were walking on one of the parks nature  trails when they happened by a sculpture that Hughs felt was inappropriate for a public garden..  To be clear on this point, Mrs.  Hughes believes the sculpture needs to be relocated somewhere that is less visited by young families.  She feels the art is too mature for young children and sends a "wrong" message.  She feels   that a naked, dismembered body is taking pictures of itself, lends it inappropriate for small kids.  She found it a vulgar depiction of sexting.


Of course, the people that think Mrs. Hughs is being narrow minded, are quick to point out that the works of Rodin or Michelangelo were nude and there are numerous ancient works of antiquity that were as well.  Mrs. Hughs counters with "I have seen the statue of David in person.  It is beautiful. He is also not taking a picture of his penis. There is a difference there.  The message is different."


Sarah Van Landuyt, executive director of the Arts Council of Johnson County, said she thinks the arboretum sculpture is doing what art is supposed to do.  "The artwork is not meant to be pornographic. It is meant to spark this kind of conversation."

 Mrs. Hughs initially tried to discuss what she perceived as an inappropriate sculpture for a venue  that is open to the public with various city officials.  After getting no satisfaction from Overland Park's mayor, city manager, council members, nor any of the  arboretum officials, she has now started a campaign that includes an on-line petition.    At this point she has almost 3000 signatures from all over the United States.

The city and the arboretum have both made statements essentially stating that they do not consider the sculpture to be offensive, obscene and have no plans on relocating it.  There have been signs posted, however,  that say:

Some pieces included a display of the human body and parental guidance is encouraged.

The signs have not appeased Mrs. Hughs and she is now working with Kansas and Missouri chapters of the American Family Association, whose national organization is hoping to get enough signatures compel a Johnson County District Court to convene  grand jury impaneled to decide whether the arboretum can be indicted on obscenity charges.



The statue named appropriately enough "Accept or Reject" by
Yu Chang



So what are your thoughts?  Does Mrs. Hughs have valid points?  But does the County and City officials have the right to incorporate all types of art in the community?

Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments

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 )

Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments.
View More Top Sites Tuesday Participants on Technorati here.
See who Tweeted this Post!