Dear James,
 I have read your message with interest. I have been
doing an essay on controversial exhibitions,
Sensations being one of them. I would be curious to
know what exactly you found offensive about the
exhibition and why. Over here in the UK the piece that
offended the most was the portrait of Myra Hindley,
which was made using the hand prints of children.
(Hindley and her partner Ian Brady were notorious
child murderers in the 60s). I know that the Chris
Ofili painting of the Holy Virgin Mary caused great
offence in NY (although I must say that I was
surprised that the offense had been caused by the
elephant dung and not by the graphic images of female
genitalia that had obviously been cut from
pornographic pictures).
 This may be stating the obvious, but controversy is
something that is personal. What one person finds
insulting, another finds liberating. In relation to
the 9/11 statue (which I have not yet seen) perhaps,
as has already been mentioned, it is the timing of the
unveiling of the statue and not the statue itself that
is insulting to people. There are many statues that
have been erected in the past of soldiers falling in
battle, of fishermen drowning at sea which have been
erected to commemorate their memory, lest we the
public should forget them.
 A tragedy is a tragedy. I don't mean to sound glib or
trivialise 9/11, but the human psyche has the amazing
ability to dull the effect tragic events, not for
those to whom the event directly effects, their pain
may never dull. But for the rest of us, it is easy for
us to push the memory of the tv images to the back of
our minds. Coming from Northern Ireland, I know how
easy the public forget the effect of the last bomb
placed in a car/pub/police station. I would like to
think the the artist of the 9/11 statue was trying to
remind us that none of us should forget, whether we
lost friends/family or co-workers or were there
ourselves or were watching the events unfold on
television.
I apologise profusely for any offense I may cause to
anyone. It is not my intent.

Emma B

 --- James Schulte <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >
Loretta i have to beg to differ with you on
> Sensations, this exhibit was
> offensive which began the Cities efforts to have it
> shut down. If no had
> objected to its content and value there would have
> been no controversy . So
> the situation is similar. As for Guiliani"s
> reputation, he became a hero due
> to his behavior durring this crisis, however his
> popularity was fading and
> continues to fade with his womanizing.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "lorettalorance" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 2:17 PM
> Subject: Re: 9/11 Censorship? Statue of falling
> woman censored
>
>
> > Have most of you supporting this as art or
> tasteful seen actual statue or
> a
> > just picture? And, yes, there are bad images of
> war that are imbedded into
> > our minds and memories. Frankly, perhaps because
> I'm an idealist, I expect
> > more from art than from the media. The media
> people have nothing better to
> > do but sustain themselves.
> >
> > I'm sure all the people who have lost family
> members have rushed or will
> > rush down to pray at Rockefeller Center. Perhaps,
> part of the public
> outrage
> > against this is that the only record of most of
> the people who jumped is
> in
> > photographs of them, clinging to the towers, in
> air or in a pile on the
> > ground. Most of the jumpers were pulverized when
> the towers fell on top of
> > them. Oh, maybe this would be more acceptable with
> some bronze rubble
> around
> > or on top of it.
> >
> > As for media frenzy, this statue and its sponsors
> are getting what they
> > probably planned. They probably thought all the
> GREAT museums would rush
> out
> > and order an edition (it's bronze) since it's the
> first memorial. They may
> > even have anticipated a good market in miniatures
> of it. I'm sure many
> > people would buy one for the coffee table or
> mantle. And, now, this one
> > particular sculpture is worth more because of the
> interest it generated.
> Not
> > a bad business strategy.
> >
> > As for censorship, who began the petition to get
> it covered and removed?
> The
> > NYC or NYS government on its own or in response to
> requests? (Sensations
> is
> > a completely different issue since that was
> personally started by the now
> > much beloved mayor Giuliani) The general public?
> Is the sponsor really a
> > wuss for protecting (by covering it and or
> removing it) their investment?
> If
> > this sculpture hits the wrong nerve in some
> people, I'm sure it will
> > disappear anyway, or the owners will wished they
> had removed it.
> >
> > Finally, is public art really something that is
> above public opinion? This
> > is intended as a memorial and not a private one.
> Arguing that this is art
> > and is therefore above the force of opinion
> against it, or perhaps above
> the
> > understanding of the general public because the
> general public doesn't
> know
> > what is good for it or what good art is, is a
> well-entrenched but flawed
> > argument. Is removing a work of art that is
> offensive to many much
> different
> > than recalling a flawed product? Who is to say
> emotional damage is less
> > painful than physical?
> >
> > Art is not something that is involiable nor should
> it be automatically
> > accepted and defended because it is art, just like
> sports heroes, CEOs and
> > politicians should go to jail when they break the
> law. People have the
> right
> > to create whatever they want, but they don't have
> the right to force
> others
> > to look at it. In this case, pedestrians have been
> forced because of its
> > conspicuous placement.
> >
> > Sorry for the length but this is in response to
> many messages.
> > Loretta Lorance
> >
> > -------------------------------------------
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> >
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=====
Emma Brown,
14 Agherton Drive,
Portstewart,
Co. Derry,
BT55 7HZ

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