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Subject:
From:
"Hill, Paula MACH" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 22 Feb 2001 15:52:30 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (289 lines)
Moi Aussi

P Hill
Royal Sask Museum

                -----Original Message-----
                From:   [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
                Sent:   22 February 2001 10:16
                To:     [log in to unmask]
                Subject:        Re: NYTimes.com Article: The Art of Rudy

                Wow.  It's entertaining reading, but I can't help wishing
*I* had this much
                leisure time . . .

                Carolyn Breedlove
                [log in to unmask]

                -----Original Message-----
                From: Indigo Nights <[log in to unmask]>
                To: [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>
                Date: Thursday, February 22, 2001 6:18 PM
                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
                >[log in to unmask]
                >
                >
                >__________________________________________________
                >Do You Yahoo!?
                >Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices!
                http://auctions.yahoo.com/
                >
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