Slog - Comments on The Death of Whimsy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy New public art along the nearly completed Fire Station 10. Why is this art weak? Because it is whimsical. Whimsical in the sense that it is playful. It plays with the idea of a race of fire hydrants. This red race is much like the human race--it is has kids, mothers, father figures, and so on. So, what is wrong with whimsy? Elsewhere I have advanced the concept of an art criticism that must find its foundation in Tardian sociology (people/mind/body as social, as associations, as a network of clusters, pathways, and patterns). To expose the history and truth of... Copyright 2008 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:12:04 -0800 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:31:11 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by MvB This stone sculpture, also in front of the fire station, at least has the honesty of being heavy.

And non-combustible!

]]> MvB http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905088 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905088 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:35:15 -0800 Comment by vooodooo84 Whimsical art is the opiate of the middle class

]]> vooodooo84 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905089 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905089 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:35:45 -0800 Comment by dreamboatcaptain Can you write 500 words giving a Marxist interpretation of Anne Geddes' photography by Friday? That would be awesome!

]]> dreamboatcaptain http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905117 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905117 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:51:59 -0800 Comment by Rotten666 This is just filler between the usual tit posts.

]]> Rotten666 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905128 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905128 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:57:32 -0800 Comment by Andy Niable Giant butt-plugs! I hope public arts funds paid for them...

]]> Andy Niable http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905141 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905141 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:06:24 -0800 Comment by DaiBando That's a lot of filler, Chuck, just to describe a place for dogs to pee.

]]> DaiBando http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905184 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905184 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:31:45 -0800 Comment by a Amen.

]]> a http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905204 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905204 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:38:38 -0800 Comment by Bellevue Ave chaz suffers from tardism.

]]> Bellevue Ave http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905307 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905307 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:30:57 -0800 Comment by -B- Most public art is lighthearted. Most of it is politically motivated. Depends on who is running city hall and views of the age group and their views that decides upon these things. Most fall into the clasifaction of "Baby boomers". Comfortable powerful individuals that want things to be "nice" whimsical and inoffensive. There is Graffiti and there is public art. One is produced by Anonymous artists trying to make a statement the other is produced by artists that are known and have to jump through hoops set up by bureaucracy. We end up with tons of public art reflecting those in power at the time and never end up with something that is powerful and loved by many. Something people would stand up for if it was to be torn down. Banksy is an artist that has crossed over into that realm in which the people love his work but it was never chosen by panels of people in power. It goes against that decision making by powers that want safe whimsical art.
Public art today is for tourists. Public art in the past was above the thinking of the average person heading to work in an office high above the street only to come out for lunch and sit next to a Henry Moore unaware that its' power was playing on their minds while they sat and had coffee and lunch outside next to the art. This whimsical art is plain and safe. "Vertebrae" or "Knife Edge" wasn't.

Vertebrae
http://www.whatrain.com/seattle/publicArt/Moore.htm

]]> -B- http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905340 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905340 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:50:22 -0800 Comment by -B- Knife Edge
http://www.walkvancouver.com/QEPark/107-0779_img.jpg

]]> -B- http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905342 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905342 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:50:59 -0800 Comment by Epimetheus "Whimsy has no power because it has no enemy" No enemy? You are much too modest, or, well, maybe not, the "Dear Science Letter of the Day" got about 3 times as many comments, and it was just a copy and paste of an anonymous letter.
"Today, whimsy is far from revolutionary. It has been absorbed by the order it originally opposed"
You mean like this?, not that the subject was whimsical, but the placement of it seems to be.]]> Epimetheus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905664 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905664 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:56:11 -0800 Comment by Horihone Saizou FIRE HYDRANTS

SERIOUS BUSINESS

]]> Horihone Saizou http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905686 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905686 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:13:42 -0800 Comment by cracked big square turd in front of firehouse

]]> cracked http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905727 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905727 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:51:13 -0800 Comment by CP I don't like the way that grown up male "hydrant" is looking at the little boy "hydrant." How much more CHILD RAPE is Seattle going to tolerate in its public art?!

This perverted art ought to be burned! (Whoops, I said "ought", that's a capitalist word...)

]]> CP http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905759 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905759 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:34:16 -0800 Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball Charles. You've heard of Bobby Knight? Bobby has a simple rule: no dunking till you can dribble.

You spelled Engels wrong.

No dunking for you, yet...

]]> Jubilation T. Cornball http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905890 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905890 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:21:27 -0800 Comment by ??? Why is CM still being ?paid?

Oh, wait, I guess the controversy that has generated these slog comments is probably worth.... $1.45 in advertising revenues from "escorts" who would otherwise shop elsewhere....

]]> ??? http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905932 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/whimsy#c905932 Arts Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:31:11 -0800