Madison Culture Sucks A Big $200,000 Penis
I need to rant on the support of art for a second because I feel really alienated. The institution I find myself within has overwhelmed me today and here are three seperate (or not seperate) stimuli pushing me over the edge...1) "Artists sought for UW-themed cow designs" in today's Featured Student Announcement ... enough said.
2) The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art's OPENING SHOW will consist of seven commissioned works celebrating Madison.
"A major exhibition that will include seven commissioned works by artist who are focusing on the history and character of the city. We will be opening in April 2006, and that is the month of the 150th anniversary of Madison's charter. The work will be basically in response to that historic landmark."
3) The UW invests $200,000 on a piece of public art. The result: There is a huge penis of footballs carved out of unfinished plaster outside the football stadium. It's called "Nail's Tales" and is a commissioned piece from Donald Lipski. Here is an article praising the "imagination". BARF.
The only art that is supported is commissioned as a marketing strategy. Public art exists only to to sell football tickets and to promote tourism. I live in a world where people only crowd the streets for sports and Dave Matthews Band concerts. And I'm so fucking alone.
Cats on Fire - The Smell of An Artist (mp3)Mattias Björkas of Cats on Fire tells me that this song was inspired by an artist called Teemu Mäki who killed a cat with an axe, masturbated on it, and sold the video to the National Museum of Modern Art in Finland. While I don't particularly object to (and am intruiged by) this type of art, apparently Mattias was inspired to write a song exemplifying the fact that the art world can stink. If he had seen this sculpture, the song may have switched genres to a death metal polka.
Kyle @ 7:04 PM
3 comments
3 comments
you are definitely not alone. great post
The constipated administrative goals of the MMCA are no big surprise, and seem to be at odds with the very nature of contemporary art. I bet someone at the staff meeting said something like "You'd think there'd be someone running around with a decent MFA, you know, maybe from UW or the Art Institute, that makes work strictly about their love for Madison--its history--its essence."
Strangely, however . . . none so far.
The "civic awareness" request will only produce things on the spectrum betweem "oversaturated watercolors of the UW campus" and "abstract metal sculpture with a vaguely ethnic feel." Perhaps this would mean something as contemporary as "Quilts that were made last year by retired women." Thanks, American Girl moguls, you're right. Everyone loves dollhouse art, you know, the kind that's often miniaturized in plaster of paris. Madison officials don't want this town to be known as anything other than "a good place to eat organic food, go to the symphony, watch the news, buy a framed pretend art print, and poop."
i couldn't agree more... what gets me is that it seems like the madison scene should have some authenticity (complicated concept in itself i know), but it always fails...
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