Bravo to David and Indigo!
Tim
Indigo Nights <[log in to unmask]>@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> on 02/22/2001
01:17:27 PM
Please respond to Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
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Subject: Re: NYTimes.com Article: The Art of Rudy
Dear David Drafted:
> Acerbic? Moi? I'm wounded. But I'll have to haul
> out the old thesaurus
> myself to see if sarcasm (as in "perimenopausal mind
> vacations") is
> synonymous with acerbity!
To Which Indigo Lightly Replies:
Oh, don't drag out that old, heavy book, dear. Go to
http://www.yourdictionary.com Not to worry. They are
close though not exact fits. You have, of course,
heard of quid pro quo, have you not? (smile)
After Some Clarification, David Continued:
You responded
> with your characteristic eloquence, lucidity, and
> vigor, so I am both
> gratified and satisfied.
Indigo Bats Her Eyes and Responds:
We aim to please. So glad to be of service, my dear.
David, Obviously Envigorated by the Dialogue, Further
Stated:
I do think, however, that
> to construe a simple
> request for clarification as an attempt at public
> comeuppance is unfair.
Indigo Draws a Deep Breath, Musters Her Courage, and
Then Whispers:
Dear Heart, sometimes dealing with your writing is
like dealing with the web software whereby you can
click at any point on the site, and it will
immediately take you to some further point of
clarification about a specific word rather than to
take them en toto.
Now, Love, do understand I've a young grandson I adore
who stops me for every word he doesn't understand
(sure makes a grandmother proud, that boy does!), but
it sometimes makes it tough to communicate.
People who are more shy than I may simply whither and
not meet the challenge. After all, this is polite
company, and one is supposed to be refined.
But a volley that comes across as (now where was my
dictionary site again, must check for the right word
because this is David reading it, LOL) pithy, given
the right concurrent set of circumstances, can often
be counted on as being responded to in kind.
David Then Continued to Clarify:
> As someone else correctly remarked, the real issue
> that Giuliani raises is
> public funding for controversial art, rather than
> the question of censorship
> per se.
To Which Indigo Injects:
See, I told you we'd have to get into faith-based
initiatives (FBIs).
If public dollars can be used in support of
(charitable) actions accomplished by religious
organizations, than one should be able to use public
dollars for controversial artworks.
David Resumed:
(Since most significant art ends up
> offending someone in some way, I
> personally think that any level of government which
> wants to make a
> commitment to supporting the arts must learn to
> accept the fact that some of
> the art which it funds, directly or indirectly,
> inevitably will prove
> controversial or offensive to someone.)
Indigo Excitedly Injects:
Amen, my brother!
Then David Said:
But if the
> issue, or one of the
> issues, is tax-funded support, I think the argument
> that anyone, including
> Giuliani, who is offended can simply elect to stay
> away is facile and beside
> the point.
Indigo Sits There Puzzled, Trying to Figure Out What
to Scratch. Choosing Her Head, She Replies:
Well, that's the first time I've been called facile in
a long time instead of ornery. Why thank you, I
think.
Gathering Her Composure, Indigo Swiftly Infuses:
But it is PRECISELY the point!
David Educated By Adding:
In any event, it is simply not true that
> everyone who is offended
> by an exhibition will boycott it. I'm reminded of
> the woman quoted by the
> Washington Post years ago during the Mapplethorpe
> controversy who, on her
> fourth visit to the exhibition, said that it was
> more offensive every time
> she saw it.
Indigo Asks:
Is that like I'll stop beating my head against the
wall when I figure out that it hurts?
David Put His Foot In It and Said:
> Some of the most egregious examples of censorship
> (or attempted censorship)
> in recent years have been justified on grounds of
> racial sensitivity, as in
> the attempt to remove the "n" word from the
> dictionary and the successful
> removal of photographs from a Library of Congress
> exhibition.
Indigo, Incensed, Infuses:
Oh, Homey, you HAD to go there, didn't you. Hate
words, words that are intended to be of harm to
another do not belong in public.
She invites David to sit down for a drink the next
time he comes to LA (she'll have Crown Royal with Diet
Coke, thank you) so we can discuss this at length off
list. Under her breath she mutters, "didn't you read
the part where I indicated I've been discussing hate
speech for a couple of days--ergo my the exacerbation
of my contentious nature?"
David Continued With:
The value of
> Giuliani's wrong-headed tirades is that they remind
> us that religious
> minorities also have sensitivities which deserve
> some consideration. The
> challenge for public institutions like museums is to
> find ways to present
> controversial and provocative aesthetic and
> historical issues, confront them
> with educational, sensitive explication, and
> facilitate intelligent
> dialogue--not merely provoke politicians and
> offended groups into
> denunciations.
Indigo, Patting Her Foot, Looking At Her Nails,
Impatiently Offers:
So if a lot of the pictures of the baby Christ are
naked, should we stash those away because someone
might think they're inciting pedophilia?
And, more importantly, do we know the museum in
question hasn't offered some "padding" for its
"poignant" message.
Indigo Hollers Back to the List:
Do we have someone on list from the represented
organization that can describe how this exhibition is
presented or, better still, do we have a web site that
depicts it?
David, Nearly Through, Pronounced:
Dialogue stemming from managed
> controversy can be beneficial,
> but polarization is seldom useful, it seems to me.
Indigo Responds:
Agreed.
David's Grand Finale Was:
> Let's try not to make it "messy", OK?
Indigo Excitedly Offers:
No, let's not. I didn't win the lottery. The maid
and my mother are both dead, and I don't do housework!
Come to LA, David, and we can talk.
=====
Indigo Nights
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