You Just Don't "Get" Art

I know what you're thinking..."here comes another right-winger tsk-tsking about the sad state of the culture" and while you are correct that the culture is in a sad state, I think this is going to be more of a "stupid is as stupid does" type post.

Gary Gross tipped me off to a Drudge Report link on the story below.

This morning, a Boston-born performance artist, Yazmany Arboleda, tried to set up a provocative art exhibition in a vacant storefront on West 40th Street in Midtown Manhattan with the title, “The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama,” in neatly stenciled letters on the plate glass windows at street level.

By 9:30 a.m., New York City police detectives and Secret Service agents had shut down the exhibition, and building workers had quickly covered over the inflammatory title with large sheets of brown paper and blue masking tape.

I hate to say this but "provacative art exhibits" are really becoming passe. I mean everybody, it seems, does one now. Now I must admit that I was particularly drawn to this passage.

Later, Mr. Arboleda, who is 27, said in an interview: “It’s art. It’s not supposed to be harmful. It’s about character assassination — about how Obama and Hillary have been portrayed by the media.” He added, “It’s about the media.” ...The interview was abruptly ended as Mr. Arboleda was led off to the Midtown South police precinct for what he called an interrogation.

You don't understand....it's all about the MEEEEEEdiaaaaaaa. You can almost hear the whine now...However, it was not until I clicked over to the websites that were set up for the exhibit (one for Sen. Clinton and one for Sen. Obama) that you realize that this was simply the arrogance of a childish adult who just does not get that there are certain lines you just don't cross. The pictures of the "exhibit" are basically the ARTIST engaging in character assisination. Whether is is the one room that has the picture of a very long (covering 3 walls in the room) black male appendage with the caption "Once you've gone Barack..." to the ode to pant suits with a side panel "Hillary's Fashions" taking her to task for her "embrace of masculine attire" (trust me - I am the same way and it has nothing to do with wanting to look "androgynous"), this "art exhibit" is nothing more than a disappointed progressive who decided that he would "show the establishment" what he thought of them.

The problem is that there are just some lines that are not meant to be crossed. You simply do not talk "assisinating" someone running for President - especially when one of the someone's is an African American who has received very credible death threats! This is something that Yazmany's parents and teachers should have taught him. Heck if the young lad had paid ANY attention at all to anything other than himself to this past election cycle he would have seen that throwing the word assisination around lightly comes with very real consequences.

No, I seriously suspect that this exhibit is not about the media...it is the petulant posturing of a spoiled 20 something who wanted nothing more than to get his 15 minutes of fame. Well he got what he it....but is this really how he wanted to do it?