sculpture

Statue Ethics: “Hey Lucy, I’m Ho…OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

/ Jack Marshall / 14 Comments

Lucy statueIconic comic actress Lucille Ball was born in Celoron, New York, and in 2009 the town’s residents commissioned a statue to honor her. It was designed to show the comedienne performing one of the most famous of her routines on “I Love Lucy,” the “Vitameatavegimin” bit.  For some reason, however, the sculptor either decided to portray Lucy as a creature from Hell, or had never actually seen a picture of Ball and just guessed, badly, at what she looked like. The result, which a sighted “Let’s Honor Lucy” committee member should have rejected at first glance, now stands in the town park, an eyesore and an insult to Ball’s memory.

Now some of the residents are trying to get the town to junk the statue, and rallying Lucy fans to put pressure on the town leadership to act. My question is, what took them so long? Six years of this incompetent abomination is six years too long. A memorial is ethically obligated to honor its subject, not insult and defile her memory. Would the public tolerate a Lincoln Memorial where Abe was sculpted to look like an ape? Would it have stood by at the unveiling and said, “Well, okaaay, I guess we can live with that…I guess. I mean, its paid for and all”?  What’s the matter with the populace of Celeron?
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Yes, Putting Underpants on Michaelangelo’s “David” Is Unethical.

/ Jack Marshall / 19 Comments

japan-David

So is putting a bikini on the Venus de Milo, in case you’re wondering.

The issue has been raised because a huge replica of the nude male statue was unexpectedly donated to a Japanese town, where it is unsettling some people and frightening others. Clothing “David” in a big Speedo or something has been suggested as a way to make the artwork more viewer-friendly.

Uh, no. Not all art will be welcome in every culture, and it may be that a mega-“David” in a Japanese park was a mistake. It is a work of visual art, however, and it is wrong for anyone other than the artist to alter or censor that artist’s creative work, especially when such a change renders the work of art risible. Putting underwear on “David” is as unfair and disrespectful as putting Groucho glasses on the “Mona Lisa.”

The town of Okuizumo has precisely two ethical choices, and no more: remove the statue and give it to someone else who will take care of it and appreciate it, or leave it alone.

Fruit of the Loom is not an option.

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Pointer: Lianne Best

Facts and Graphic: News.com.au

 

Neighborhood Ethics and the Snow Babe

/ Jack Marshall / 7 Comments

It’s time to play “Who’s the Worse Neighbor?”!

It’s clear that the media take on the New Jersey story about the risqué snow sculpture will favor the snow-artist neighbor and ridicule the Puritanical neighbors, but the ethics fouls may be on the other side.

A brief summary: a woman and her son used the ample snow on their lawn and the their substantial sculpting talents to make a life-size, headless, armless, torso and trunk of a rather well endowed naked woman instead of the more traditional Frosty the Snowman. If this  “came to life one day,”  that traffic cop would arrest it for indecent exposure. Continue reading →