Franklin Einspruch on our fearlessly radical aesthete caste:
Last fall, the Guggenheim made quite the symbolic gesture of its own. As reported in the Washington Post, the White House asked the museum to lend it an 1888 canvas by Vincent van Gogh in which a man and his dog trudge through a snow-covered, vibrant landscape. A smarmy reply from the Guggenheim explained to the White House’s Office of the Curator that “Landscape with Snow” was unavailable… Instead, the museum offered a work of conceptual art by Maurizio Cattelan, a functioning toilet made from solid, 18-carat gold that had been installed at the museum during the prior year. “The work beautifully channels the history of twentieth-century avant-garde art by referencing Marcel Duchamp’s famous urinal of 1917,” the email explained. It did not mention the title of the 2016 piece, which is “America.”
When our self-imagined betters speak, it often pays to consider the psychology in play. In the case above, the Guggenheim’s artistic director, Nancy Spector, was prepared to publicly insult not only the First Lady but also, more importantly, everyone who voted for the current incumbent of the White House – half of the nation that the Guggenheim supposedly serves - in order to signal her own political edginess. As Franklin notes, one wonders whether Ms Spector believes that her display of disdain will help the wider cause of arts funding or encourage the kind of broader public interest that such organisations claim to want.
Perhaps she was too busy admiring herself to consider such details.
a functioning toilet made from solid, 18-carat gold…It did not mention the title of the 2016 piece, which is “America.”
to publicly insult not only the First Lady but also, more importantly, everyone who voted for the current incumbent of the White House
Well seeing as the artistic piece, along with the original artist itself, is insulting the entire country, First Ladies are not much more than collateral damage.
I expect that the audience Ms Spector actually cares about serving is contained entirely on the island of Manhattan. I’d hazard a guess that she couldn’t locate Missouri or Iowa on a map if her life depended upon it.
What does she think Trump voters just did?
. . . more importantly, everyone who voted for the current incumbent of the White House – half of the nation that the Guggenheim supposedly serves – . . .
Actually, no.
Of the actual voting patterns, with Clinton and Trump each collecting only a quarter of the voters, approximately three quarters of the voters chose other than Trump, and approximately three quarters of the voters chose other than Clinton.
Actually, no.
As Ms Spector’s disdain seems so sweeping, such that she finds a ludicrous golden toilet a witty and fitting symbol of the country in which she flourishes, thanks in part to the people whose sentiments she offends, I can live with my phrasing.
“channels the history of 20th century avant-garde art” A perfect task for a gold toilet.
Life would not be worth living if it depended on knowing where or what a “Missouri”is. Some sort of sandwich sold to the lower classes, I presume.
Not entirely unrelated.
Well seeing as the artistic piece, along with the original artist itself, is insulting the entire country,
Indeed, the toilet is shitting on the people…
I expect that the audience Ms Spector actually cares about serving is contained entirely on the island of Manhattan.
I was going to post similar thoughts. We’ve seen similar results with other institution which have become infected with malignant SJW-ness. See, e.g. ESPN, the NFL, etc.
with Clinton and Trump each collecting only a quarter of the voters
Only if “voter” is defined as “someone who had the capacity to vote, regardless of whether that capacity was used”, instead of “one who voted”.
An odd opinion, and one that does not seem to be shared by any of this blog’s other seven billion commenters.
I expect that the audience Ms Spector actually cares about serving is contained entirely on the island of Manhattan.
I’d go one further and confine it to the Upper East Side, wouldn’t want the riff raff from Little Italy, Chinatown, or East Harlem hanging about.
What does she think Trump voters just did?
Installed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor?
Actually, no.
Shut up, Wesley.
Only if “voter” is defined as “someone who had the capacity to vote, regardless of whether that capacity was used”, instead of “one who voted”.
Actually, I would think one would have to, you know, vote to be a voter. To say someone is a voter when they didn’t even bother to vote is like …hmmm…what’s a better analogy….someone with the capacity for writing huge volumes of text claiming to be a blogger when they don’t actually have their own blog. OK, not perfect. But you get the idea.
What’s most striking to me is the utter childishness of the Guggenheim’s response. It’s almost infantile in its petulance.
Trump has a long memory. I think this silly woman and her cheering cohorts in the arts will rue insulting his wife in this manner.
That dish best served cold? It’s coming.
I have a similar artwork in my house. It’s a functioning toilet, *that I actually poo in*. I have given it the title, ‘The Modern Art World’.
You have to agree that I am outstandingly clever and artistic and insightful, no? My friends all guffaw and toast me whenever they see it and get to poo in it too.
It’s almost infantile in its petulance.
That’s not the definition of modern art?
What the hell has David been torturing us with these many years, then?
“Trump has a long memory. I think this silly woman and her cheering cohorts in the arts will rue insulting his wife in this manner.”
Like, maybe, a change to the tax laws that puts a couple of torpedoes in the whole “art world/art sales/donations to ‘non-profits'” money-laundering scam that keeps Nancy and her clique of glitterati leeches farting through silk and crapping into gold toilets? Changes that the other 99% of the country would stand and cheer?
Heh. One could only hope.
“Perhaps she was too busy admiring herself to consider such details.”
Since I have no further reason to give jagoffs like Nancy Spector the benefit of the doubt anymore, I’m thinking this is just childish ‘Phooey on Great-Uncle Irving and his big-deal how-I-suffered Auschwitz tattoo! I just sent a gold toilet to Cheeto Hitlerlini! NOW who’s the martyr hero in the family, Unk?”
Just another artsy-fartsy poseur. Like we were running out of them, or something.
“Functioning”, eh? I’d have been inclined to take it and use it.
Or at least let it be thought that I had. A photo of it installed in the Oval Office’s en-suite – and nothing else for the duration of the loan – would be enough to set the Guggenheim’s teeth a-gnashing, I think. Very Trumpian.
Henry V was also accustomed to the slights of his cultural betters. This was his response to the dolphin of France, in Shakespeare’s play. https://youtu.be/bb3kSib82I8
That’s Dauphin, not dolphin, those Shakespeare makes that very joke later in the play.
On a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated how much Marcel Duchamp was pissing on the establishment, and how people must have taken it at the time. I learned about it during our history, and the visceral quality of the work completely passed me by. Ironically, as part of the establishment, the Guggenheim seem not to understand that they’re the ones who are being shat upon.
What the hell has David been torturing us with these many years, then?
That’s modern art, not Modern Art.
What the hell has David been torturing us with these many years, then?
Sshh. They’ll hear. Don’t make them angry. We wouldn’t want our creative types to take extreme measures.
For those interested in art and moving images from Down Under, and if you wish to decipher what is written above, further your knowledge with the following link. Of course there is definitions of sexuality and identity to explore. That it is a State Government site tells you much.
https://cv.vic.gov.au/stories/a-diverse-state/digital-stories-of-young-adults/
He should have taken them up on the offer and used it as a “normal seat in the Oval Office. Imagine the psychological impact it would have if his opponents went to negotiate with Trump and found themselves sitting on a gold toilet as he sat behind the big desk.
Don’t make them angry.
You don’t like art(ists) much, do you? 🙂
@Lucy: Art and artists are wonderful and enrich our lives. Scam artists, not so much.
You don’t like art(ists) much, do you? 🙂
Actually, I quite like art, when I see it, as opposed to flim-flam, and I’m largely indifferent to artists as a notional group. What I dislike, and often write about, is the extraordinary sense of entitlement that’s common among artists and self-styled creatives, especially among those swollen with leftism but unburdened by talent.
Actually, no.
As Ms Spector’s disdain seems so sweeping, such that she finds a ludicrous golden toilet a witty and fitting symbol of the country in which she flourishes, thanks in part to the people whose sentiments she offends, I can live with my phrasing.
Right—when counting only the rough numbers of the presidential election votes placed and counted, for that count, the electing division of Trump vs Clinton is half and half, and as you state, yeah, you’re reacting to the reaction.
Of course, what will still remain is those overall and also basic numbers. Trump did get elected, but with that quite definite minority, and because he’s conservative instead of right wing, the right wing is pissed off, and of course the left wing is screaming its collective head off.
Of course what probably isn’t helping the mood of the right or the left is the overall realization that the democrats totally screwed up by putting Clinton in instead of Sanders. Given the assorted relative numbers, there is that distinct likelihood that with the exact same margins of seventy-five percent against for both candidates, Sanders could have beaten Trump.
And of course, in that instance, because he’s conservative instead of left wing, the left wing would be pissed off, and of course the right wing would be screaming its collective head off.
…Trump did get elected, but with that quite definite minority, and because he’s conservative instead of right wing, the right wing is pissed off…
No, the “right wing” is not pissed off, the establishment GOP, who call themselves conservatives but maintain positions only several millimeters to the left of the establishment democrats, is pissed off.
Sanders could have beaten Trump…And of course, in that instance, because he’s conservative instead of left wing…
Only in Berkeley could Sanders be considered conservative.
Only in Berkeley could Sanders be considered conservative.
Quite. And only in this blog could one find a host whose patience passeth all (my) understanding.
And only in this blog could one find a host whose patience passeth all (my) understanding.
It’s true, I’m a glorious being. Practically a saint.
I was going to limit it to a square mile circle with the center being the Guggenheim itself but didn’t want to leave out all the poseurs\luvvies in Tribeca and Soho. After all, they’ve paid a lot for those lofts, it’s not their fault they’re located downtown. *sniff*
Are you referring to Bernie Sanders here? The man who honeymooned in the U.S.S.R.? That Bernie Sanders?
Conservative?
In the words of polymath Catherine Newman, I’ve got to think about that…
No disparagement intended but might that not be a side-effect of the “Blogging Thong”?
…especially among those swollen with leftism but unburdened by talent.
It’s turns of phase such as this one that keep me coming back here for more.
You don’t like art(ists) much, do you?
I’m an artist and even I can be persuaded not to like artists very much.
A conservative is one who likes the old ways. One who does not move on in a hurry.
Bernie Sanders is a conservative. A conservative left-winger.
Practically a saint.
And so *humble* too!
A conservative is one who likes the old ways. One who does not move on in a hurry.
Yes. True. This is one of those things that one learns in school but once one needs to fit into the real world, to actually communicate with the general mass of humanity, is fairly useless. While I understand and even wish to stick to the actual meaning of such words myself, I have found it rather tiring when pressed to describe my own type of pigeon hole (in which we all must be placed) using the phrase “classical liberal” causes far more trouble than the precision is worth.
Also meant to note that BS is only a conservative in relation to leftism. I seriously doubt his election to the office of POTUS would have resulted in a hold-the-line general policy. Seriously, look at his policies and tell me that these things are “liking the old ways”:
https://berniesanders.com/issues/
Of course one could argue a return to socialistic policies of FDR or such is “old ways” but then everyone is a “conservative” in some context as in the context of governance there really is not much new under the sun. Yet there is a definition of “conservative” that would mean leaving people alone, bothering them as little as possible. But then that’s “classical liberal”…and on and on and on we could argue.
A conservative is one who likes the old ways. One who does not move on in a hurry.
Bernie Sanders is a conservative. A conservative left-winger.
Yes, he is nostalgic for Lenin and Stalin, Castro and Mao.
You don’t like art(ists) much, do you?
A lot of artists are jerks and worse. Even the ones that create great art are often “difficult” people.
Oh lighten up, David. Yes, there is plenty of snowflakey pearl-clutching going on there, but not from the side you seem to think
A gold plated toilet? So America isn’t a tinplated shit-hole, then.
I’m not sure I follow, Rusty. I see pearl-clutching from the Googs over the possibility of their NEA money going away, and I see pearl-clutching from the Trumppalos over the deliberate insult that Nancy Spector sent their way. Which side do you think David is overlooking? If it’s the latter, I’d like to observe that “Why, I never!” is an understandable reaction to a deliberate sleight, and also that the Googs’ mission statement is centered on outreach and accessibility, not insult.
To reiterate the central point of David’s initial posting: do they think that deliberately insulting half the country is a good way to promote education in the arts? Do they think it’s a good way to protect the NEA money currently being stolen from the people they insult?
I suppose you could make the argument that the Googs doesn’t need any of the filthy lucre being earned by evil GOP businessmen, since they can just wait a generation until the evil businessmen’s idiot offspring decide that they want invites to the cool kids’ cocktail parties and start giving away Daddy’s hard-earned cash. But that seems like a topic for a different thread.
Trump did get elected, but
but given that turnout has exceeded 80% of the voting age population only six times (all in the 19th century), while the popular vote margin has exceeded 20% only five times (all in the 20th century), it would appear (quite in fact and rather) that winning election without winning a majority of the potential vote is not only commonplace, but thus far a ubiquitous feature of American presidential elections.