Jesus wept!
Apr. 8th, 2006 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomusOdd things have been happening in the museum recently; incidents, acts of God, interventions.
On Thursday Deva Graf's wax sculpture of (what I take to be) the black head of Christ, up on the fourth floor, went a little bit out of control; the flame burning inside Christ's head got too big and began to melt the wax, which spilled like black tears through Christ's eyes and trickled down to make a puddle on the floor. Jesus wept! The guards' walkie talkies were soon acrackle with urgent messages. Like a rolling news reporter I covered the dramatic scene as it unfolded: "In an act of God, the head of Christ is melting," I reported through the bullhorn. "Please stand back, pyrotechnicians and helicopters will be here momentarily. If you've just joined us, we repeat: in an act of God, the head of Christ is melting!" When the pyrotechnicians did arrive, they decided it was the artist's intention that the wax should melt. Or did they mean the will of God?
Shortly after the candle incident I came across an intervention which resembled a guerilla version of my own twisted commentaries. Next to Richard Serra's "STOP BUSH" print there's an A4-sized dispenser usually filled with copies of the work, which visitors can take away. Some counter-revolutionary had replaced the "STOP BUSH (signed SERRA)" handout with one reading "STOP SERRA (signed BUSH)". It was a witty little intervention, on a par, perhaps, with the pranksters who brought their own velvet rope to the opening and set it up on the sidewalk outside the museum. Except that, as pro-Bush propaganda, it backfired a bit, because it's impossible to imagine Bush mustering the artistic gumption to lift a brush, let alone the wit to create a squib. The pirate handouts were swiftly removed, and Jesus wept some more.
On Thursday Deva Graf's wax sculpture of (what I take to be) the black head of Christ, up on the fourth floor, went a little bit out of control; the flame burning inside Christ's head got too big and began to melt the wax, which spilled like black tears through Christ's eyes and trickled down to make a puddle on the floor. Jesus wept! The guards' walkie talkies were soon acrackle with urgent messages. Like a rolling news reporter I covered the dramatic scene as it unfolded: "In an act of God, the head of Christ is melting," I reported through the bullhorn. "Please stand back, pyrotechnicians and helicopters will be here momentarily. If you've just joined us, we repeat: in an act of God, the head of Christ is melting!" When the pyrotechnicians did arrive, they decided it was the artist's intention that the wax should melt. Or did they mean the will of God?Shortly after the candle incident I came across an intervention which resembled a guerilla version of my own twisted commentaries. Next to Richard Serra's "STOP BUSH" print there's an A4-sized dispenser usually filled with copies of the work, which visitors can take away. Some counter-revolutionary had replaced the "STOP BUSH (signed SERRA)" handout with one reading "STOP SERRA (signed BUSH)". It was a witty little intervention, on a par, perhaps, with the pranksters who brought their own velvet rope to the opening and set it up on the sidewalk outside the museum. Except that, as pro-Bush propaganda, it backfired a bit, because it's impossible to imagine Bush mustering the artistic gumption to lift a brush, let alone the wit to create a squib. The pirate handouts were swiftly removed, and Jesus wept some more.
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Date: 2006-04-09 07:56 pm (UTC)That said, I do think that graphic artists, because of their training, usually have a better handle on how to convey a specific message (especially a political one), and make it work on many levels. Compare the iRaq spoof posters (http://www.tuaw.com/2004/06/11/more-ipod-iraq-mock-posters-showing-up/) to the Serra piece, for instance—they're much more successful both aesthetically and conceptually, mixing technical ability, practical knowledge of what will grab attention on a city street, dark humor and political and social critique. These posters can also exist separately from their creators—they don't coast on being by a fashionable or well-known artist.