The Put-Upon And Marginalised Finally Get A Word In
Time, I think, to better ourselves. Come, let us peek at the culture pages of the Guardian:
That’s Perth, Scotland. Lest there be confusion.
Bear with me. I’m setting the scene. Stoking your anticipation.
White horse. Big horn.
Again, big horn.
Ah, tat.
Brace yourselves for a full-on face-blast of culture:
Such wonders you’ll behold. Memories to treasure forever.
Because the above is “a modern symbol of the LGBTQI+ community.” And so, while claiming to give exposure to the supposedly marginalised and unseen, the virtuous by default, the curators are expecting visitors to be enthralled by objects of mass-produced banality that are, by their own admission, utterly ubiquitous.
But wait. There’s more.
One of the above. Presumably the most photogenic.
I’m just going to leave this here, I think. Consider it an illustration of what can be done. A cultural benchmark for our times.
Regarding the aforementioned seldomness, I briefly scanned recent listings and found that the museums and galleries busily “queering” their content include the British Museum (“Desire, Love, Identity: Exploring LGBTQ Histories”), the Victoria and Albert Museum (“A Queer History of Art”), Tate Britain, Tate Kids, Queer Britain (“A riot of voices, objects, and images from the worlds of activism, art, culture, and social history”), Brighton Museum, the London Art Fair, the Glasgow Women’s Library, the Museum of Transology, the Museum of London, National Museums Liverpool, National Museums Scotland, and the National Portrait Gallery.
So seldom. So terribly seldom.
Other vigorously “queered” content can be found at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art; the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; and the Wellcome Collection, London, which among other things offers a “queer life-drawing workshop… focussing on queer bodies.” I have, due to space concerns – and the fear that readers may lose the will to live – omitted many more.
Despite which, Ashleigh Hibbins, the head of audiences at the Perth Museum, where unicorns await, tells us,
Ah yes, those unheard voices. The dear downtrodden.
Via Julia.
This blog is kept afloat by the buttons below.
Don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Are you not enriched? Aesthetically elevated?
Reading from here:
to here:
my first thoughts were, “Well, this is going to be awkward.”
Because, in principle at least, I have no issue with seeing the products of mass produced design set alongside works from the distant past.
(The image below, in fact, was rescued from its use as a dust cover for a pile of old junk in the lumber room of chateau where it had lain for decades until it was restored – which just goes to show that even some of the most beautiful works of art may at one time have been treated like ephemeral trash).
But then of course, I read on:
Oh, God.
Perhaps someone should take Ashleigh Hibbins quietly to one side and explain that:
My point is more that, while claiming to give exposure to the supposedly marginalised and unseen, they’re expecting visitors to be enthralled by piles of mass-produced tat that is, by their own admission, utterly ubiquitous. And banal.
I often wonder what life was like before Freud. My parents came of age long before his influence permeated the culture (again, that word). They weren’t stupid people yet somehow the connection between say the Empire State Building and a huge dick was never mentioned. I dare say that most people of that time went to their graves thinking its design was just a function of real estate costs/necessity. Sure, some of the cruder elements of society made the connection but they would have been taken as seriously as we do the people who find racism in the OK sign. And unicorns were for the most part unicorns. Not necessarily saying that there is no connection but taking the pros and cons to their net conclusion, have we really gained anything with this knowledge?
I’m just astounded by the This is a £27m project part!
Such as a civilised leftist?
“queer life-drawing workshop… focussing on queer bodies
I was wondering how, aside from the scars from poorly performed surgery, one would tell if the body was “queer”, but if the models are clothed, I am now curious how a “queer” body differs from any average dyed, tatted, and perforated leftist loon.
I suspect you may have given this more thought than the people involved.
Sounds like some low-effort curating there.
It’s the museum’s “centrepiece,” you know. The temptation we won’t be able to resist.
How very dare you, sir. It’s the bleeding edge of artistic and curatorial accomplishment.
Don’t these people *ever* get tired of telling us about their genitals and where they choose to put them?
I’m resisting it just fine.
Don’t these people *ever* get tired of telling us about their genitals and where they choose to put them?
No, it is all they have given the absence of personality, talent, ability, or achievement.
Off-the-peg identity, however loudly invoked, seems a piss-poor substitute for an actual, you know, personality. I mean, if you feel in any way defined or affirmed by a pile of My Little Pony toys, as if they somehow capture who you are…
They’re really scraping the bottom of the ‘Pride’ barrel.
I’m guessing we’re supposed to be endlessly fascinated.
Not a high bar.
Looking back at the beat poets:
Now do Hemingway and The Lost Generation. Similar veins going back to the Stephen Crane and the Civil War, etc. The main difference in these generations is that as society becomes wealthier and wealthier it has greater capacity to support such people. For better or for worse. The net-out on that itself over the generations seems to be moving towards worse. Don’t see anything to correct it. Anything civilized anyway. I could be wrong. I hope I am. But it’s just a hope.
“…who you are.”
I don’t care who you are. I care what you can do.
Which sound suspiciously like Aleister Crowley’s “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
It seems a mistake to attribute the source of societal rot to the mental delinquents of the mid-20th Century.
as WTP said: The main difference in these generations is that as society becomes wealthier and wealthier it has greater capacity to support such people.
Reality used to confront everyone at every moment. If you were mean to your cow it would kick you and break your leg. If you ignored the weather your crops got ruined and you starved. You could have fantasy beliefs (fairies and whatnot), but they had to belong to your spare time and were not your “identity”. So many people today can get away with pretending all sorts of crap. Especially they can pretend to be oppressed.
[ Fetches cloth of questionable origin, wipes bar. ]
Umm… imagination?
Lordy, even little kids create stories, drawings, even friends that are entirely imaginary.
I’d tell such sterile prigs to get the stick out of their backside, but I’m afraid they enjoy it there.
Harsh treatment of criminals and parasites seems eminently civilized.
Having raised 4 daughters, there was the period where MLP approached wild horse herd levels in our house. They were a little girl’s dream — pretty colors, brushable hair, cute faces — hours of imaginative play was had with these soft-plastic ponies.
I gotta admit that, today, it is hard to maintain my warm, nostalgic feelings for this toy icon of the 1980s when it has been adopted as an object of adult paraphilia.
Take it back to the closet, dudes. WAY to the back of the closet.
Yes, but we’re talking about the cultural/civilized aspects of society. Those who don’t do (much of) the criminality themselves but normalize the acceptance of it. Wars have a significant impact on this but that’s a longer discussion…
Well exactly. I mean the whole thing is quite silly. They only “exist” because they were imagined. It’s not like we’re talking about Europeans hearing retold stories about western hemisphere animals or mariners’ tales from a glimpse of far off pods of dolphins.
My point is that we should return to older norms where criminals and suchlike were treated as they deserved. How to get there is a separate question.
Heh. That.
Never an argument from me on that. I thought we were discussing Jack Kerouac, Burroughs, Nietzsche and stuff.
I think “adult” belongs in scare quotes.
Gott im Himmel, it’s in the name.
Humans have a terrible tendency to be fascinated by talented Cluster Bs, even when their narcissism and even sociopathy are right there for everyone to see.
We’re pretty much hopeless.
Given that unicorns are one of the most widely depicted mythological creatures in both heraldry and pop culture, what is there to “explore?” Every kitschy Knick-knack shop has a couple dozen unicorn figurines and a rack of unicorn t-shirts and posters. I’ve never seen the “actual” Santa Claus, but I’m pretty clear on ways he’s “conceptualized.”
It’s a horse.
With a narwhal tusk coming out its forehead.
How hard can it be?
Sounds like some low-effort curating there.
And the thing that disturbs you is only the sound of the low spark of high-heeled boys.
It’s a horse.
With a narwhal tusk coming out its forehead.
Or did someone on acid mis-species a rhinoceros?
I think we’ve been distracted and we’re all missing the point here. It’s the £27m. I gotta admit, that sum for something this bloody stupidly obvious is a form of art in itself. It’s genius. Well, not genius in the sense that the perpetrators are so smart but in the delta of how far they are above the stupid rest of society willing to pay for it. And this is just one of many, many such instances not in just the UK, but the US, Canada, France, Italy, and the other usual morons.
You’d think after being roasted so thoroughly in the 90s they’d be ashamed to pull stuff like this, but no.
Cluster B is eternal. And Cluster B never learns.
It’s the £27m
It’s the £27m
It’s the £27m
It’s OUR £27m
Many years ago my sweetie and I liked to read to each other in bed. My favourite book to read aloud will always be the Wind in the Willows to my daughter but Kerouac’s book about his search for his antecedents in France comes a close second. From that book alone I say the man could write.
Relevant to my first comment, a friend recited the entirety of “Howl” during my first acid trip so I might be a little damaged.
Ugly with blue and green hair?
Heh. Well, I suppose a pile of unattractive, uniform, ubiquitous plastic tat is kind of symbolic. Though perhaps not in ways one might find flattering or endearing.
And again, if you’re a supposed adult and you feel some affinity with a mass-produced plastic unicorn toy intended for small girls, as if said object captured the very essence of who you are, then some assumptions may need revisiting.
Depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.
re Howl:
It, of course, goes on. Re-tensify a few verbs, a minor tweek of a very few nouns and reads quite well as prophecy. Not necessarily the author’s intent but then I’ve never dropped acid so…?
1 “We are not replacing or removing the cross from our traditional hot cross buns and they will always be available at our stores nationwide.”
2 “We are proud sponsors of diversity in our stores and will be increasing the availability of hot tick buns.”
3 “We are discontinuing the hot cross bun in our stores due to its sinister and oppressive history.”
4 “Get Yer Hot Tick Buns Here!”
[ Mutters something about skin suits ]
It’s worth noting how often and how quickly the “LGBTQI+” exhibits have become more predictable and wearying than the allegedly “pale, male and stale stories” to which they were supposedly a thrilling alternative.
We might, for instance, ask which is more likely to endure – a curiosity about the warships of Henry VIII and other Tudor artefacts, or incongruous notes attached to said artefacts, telling us about how “for many Queer people today, how we wear our hair is a central pillar of our identity.”
Cluster B surrounds itself with Cluster B, for 24/7 positive reinforcement…including subsidies.
Dream vs. Reality
That would require a sense of shame.
Yes, and the internet has permitted them to all coordinate, come up with plans to disrupt normies, and become weaponized.
True. But it’s also that they have taken over various institutions: Cluster B’s and grifters and leftists* hire others like themselves while excluding normal people. Thus, they can live and work in comfort, never subjected to the terror of being disagreed with.
* Lots of overlap there.
More accurate to say the internet has sped up the process – they’ve been undermining civilisation for some time.
Because the above is “a modern symbol of the LGBTQI+ community.”
Just like the assumption that blacks can’t find the local library to vote (or even to get books for their kids), making the unicorn a central pillar of gay identity is insulting. Whenever the Left praises you, they reveal that they actually hold you in contempt.
True, but even more accurate to say it’s because we tolerate their behaviors. I really, really tire of these arguments blaming social media or the internet for things that are really a function of the complete lack of backbone by society. Especially by those on the political center to the right. Standing up to this lunacy was dismissed by such people for…decades. The excuses from the religious that we need to care for them with kindness rather than with a firm set of legal and moral codes, the whistle-past-the-graveyard excuse that (somehow) these things eventually take care of themselves, etc. Internet or no internet, this and many similar literally insane policies of neglect and tolerance are at the root of it all. Similar to “gun violence”.
More excitement from Canada:
A lively exchange ensues.
Some, as yet sketchy, details here.
And here, where we’re assured,
Whether that safety and security extends to women and girls who, while changing, find themselves confronted with – and allegedly assaulted by – a naked man is not entirely clear.
A “misunderstanding,” apparently.
Curious how the “naked man” in the video appears to be fully clothed.
Again, as yet, it’s not entirely clear who did what or why events escalated into a brawl. However, assuming that the “misunderstanding” account is true, or partly true, there’s still an obvious problem. A mentally ill man, like many other men, has evidently been told – enough times to repeat it to those who take exception – that men are allowed in women’s changing rooms.
As if this were something men can just do now without pushback or ensuing complications.
At risk of being too sensible, that’s for turning the former City Hall into a museum. Not for the pile of Chinese-manufactured toys and horrible arts-and-crafts.
Though, if this is their big-splash opening exhibition, perhaps turfing over the site for the kids to play on would have a better ROI. Even in Scotland.
To clarify my comment about unicorns above:
The Left insists black people cannot behave as adults, cannot control themselves, and are unable to study in school. Shows what they think of them.
The Left view of LBGQetc is my little pony, colored hair, and absurd weepy tic-toks–again, they view them as children, not as serious adults.
But we, the serious adults, are supposed to take all this seriously. Seriously?
Pull the other one.
Supply of what? Dubious and dusty bar snacks?
After him.
It’s spam. Now deleted.
Given that unicorns are one of the most widely depicted mythological creatures in both heraldry and pop culture, what is there to “explore?”
Leaving aside all the misuse of public funds and public virtue-signaling, there actually is something there to explore. Artistic and literary conceptions of the unicorn have changed rather a lot over the course of human history, and much like the fairy and the genie once you trace the origins of the creature and the etymology you realize the ancient world was a great deal more connected than we like to think. A museum exhibit that contained, say, actual examples of the things listed in the Wikipedia page would be worth an afternoon with the children.
I’ve never seen the “actual” Santa Claus, but I’m pretty clear on ways he’s “conceptualized.”
Your notion of what Santa Claus is and looks like are almost entirely constructed by the Coca-Cola company, c. 1931. So again, there’s a lot of interesting history of how folklore and pop culture intersect.
Fine, have my lunch money
Bless you, sir. May you not forget, until much too late, how much you dislike Branston Pickle.
Only if I can find it locally sourced.
The price of fame.
.
When I worked for a major defense contractor, a group that I was working with for a short time had a dumpy, middle aged guy who was a “brony”. He had those little ponies in his cube. This was about ten years ago or so. It wasn’t a technically secret clearance area but he 99.9999% likely had one to qualify for his job. I didn’t have to deal with him directly so he didn’t creep me out so much. What did give me the creeps was how everyone else was so accepting of his little quirk.
There were a few other special people in that group as well. It was rather disproportionately female for a software engineering environment. One very attractive yet very difficult young lady was constantly catered to by nearly everyone. After I left then came back for a short while, for my own self preservation I asked what/where that little landmine was in charge of and I found out rather matter-of-factly that she had committed suicide.
I laughed and I’m not sorry (TM):
Why is it that I suspect many (most? ?all?) of the exhibits were procured with the same sort of fee you’d pay for very rare materials, directed towards the mates of the organisers?
dumpy, middle aged guy who was a “brony”
What tends to get missed about bronies is that yes, they’re creepy, but by and large they’re deeply insecure and poorly socialized to the point of borderline autism. In her quest to create a girls’ cartoon that wasn’t fluff-headed tat, the showrunner inadvertently created a passable guide to healthy social behaviour. Perhaps not representative, but I know a handful of deeply dysfunctional young men from broken families who essentially learned how to function in social situations by watching MLP:FIM.
Which is not a good thing and is deeply tragic. But it is what it is.
Oh, I get that. As I said, it wasn’t him really that creeped me so much if at all. Though it should be something of a red flag. What was creepy was the others pretending otherwise, to the point of almost celebrating his “difference”. I generally don’t care what little hobbies other people have but I don’t bring my beer can collection into work either. That would be weird. And probably “wrong” and get me in trouble with HR. I had a previous coworker/protégé at a civilian job who kept a tickle-me-elmo doll on his desk. That was weird as well. But in his weird way he seemed to think it made him more approachable to women. Given that he also believed lizard people lived inside the moon and controlled the world through via Free Masonry, he kinda needed all the help he thought he could get.
Also tbc, I believe that I once related that I had an otherwise extremely normal coworker/friend. Popular guy. Funny, smart-ish, athletic, somewhat good looking. The women at work liked him. My wife thought he looked like a young Robert De Niro. After knowing the guy for like five years he gets arrested for dropping trou outside of a Catholic school playground during recess. Normal can be hiding a lot of weird. There are a lot of straight-laced people that I might be suspicious of but nothing about this guy gave any kind of a signal.
IIRC, once a unicorn was lured in via virgin bait it was either slaughtered to obtain its horn for ‘mystical properties’ or captured and chained up in the garden to confer blessings on the home. Either way it didn’t go well for the equine cryptid.
There’s another explanation…