Originally Posted by
plush
THIS ONE OBVIOUSLY, I WOULD CALL ART. MASKIN WA PA KO KAYBAW NA KAY PICASSO NI. NOW COMPARE THIS WITH KATO CHRIST WITH THE MICKEY MOUSE HEADBAND, IF YOU HAD SEEN THAT SA SIDEWALK AND NOT SA CCCP, WOULD YOU STILL BE ABLE TO CALL THAT ART?
A work done in the manner of the visual arts is try to express/convey something which cannot be expressed via oral/written means. Like music, it seeks to find a language that defies the usual means of expression. When a song makes you cry, when it moves you to certain moods/emotions, it has done its job. So yes, if that "Christ with a Mickey Mouse Headband" is trying to express a message to me, which makes me pause and think, and contemplate about the state of the world for a moment, then I'd have to say that the piece, no matter how ill-contrived, commercialized, or done in poor taste, has in fact, done it's job--it has called my attention, so in a way, it is indeed art.
This artist's work has angered/stupefied many. He had done his job--he has disturbed the status quo, and he has led others to think in ways they never quite perhaps attempted before. And in that I believe he was successful in conveying his message, and I for one, laud him for it.
-RODION