Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Scupltures Of Naked People Are Not The Best Political Platform

Meet Judy Fenton. Judy is running for a seat on the Seattle City Council. OK, Judy, welcome to the race!

But wait, let's see what Judy stands for. From her site:
PUBLIC ART: Parents and teachers work hard to instill safe boundaries for our children, the precious next generation. Public art must not blur and confuse those boundaries!
Hmm...what does that mean? A Seattle Weekly article sheds some light:
Specifically, Fenton is concerned about the fountain at the base of the Olympic Sculpture Park that depicts a man and a boy standing naked facing each other. "We spend a lot of heartfelt time and effort teaching our children boundaries and guidelines, telling them if somebody touches us in ways that aren't appropriate what they should do," Fenton explains. "If somebody sees that statue, it will undo that and confuse them."
...

Ok, Judy, seriously? A statue of a naked man and naked boy facing each other, arms outstretched, is one of the issues you're basing your entire campaign on (and, presumably, one you think is a cornerstone issue that must be resolved in this city)? Come on. Seriously?

Ha! I get it - it's a joke, right? You really meant that you wanted to give more funding to the arts, including naked statue art. Right?

Oh crap, you're serious?

...

OK, then, I can only do one thing. I'm declaring my position on artwork for Seattle. From now on, I believe that all public art depictions of one Judy Fenton of Seattle, WA be barred from display in any public place.

The reason? You see, it scares the hootenanny out of me that someone believes these statues are a problem, and believes it is so much an issue as to run a political campaign on it. And, you see, that confuses me and undoes all the heartfelt time and effort that public art has strived to instill in me. Sorry, Judy - I just can't have that. You know, just like children can't bear to look at statues of naked people.

1 comment:

C said...

ZOMG! I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who heard that interview and thought that woman was a total nut job! Judy needs to help herself to a f****n' art history book.