We Were There First!
The Opinion Journal today takes notice of the little whoopsie in London where the Royal Academy of Art threw out the sculpture and displayed the base instead. We reported on that here – last Thursday.
In this year's summer show at London's Royal Academy of Arts, "Exhibit 1201" is a large rectangular tablet of slate with a tiny barbell-shaped bit of boxwood on top. Its creator, David Hensel, must be pleased to have been selected from among some 9,000 applicants for the world's largest open-submission exhibit of contemporary art. Nevertheless, he was bemused to discover that in transit his sculpture had gotten separated from its base. Judging the two components as different submissions, the Royal Academy had rejected his artwork proper–a finely wrought laughing head in jesmonite–and selected the plinth. "It says something about the state of visual arts today," said Mr. Hensel. He didn't say what. He didn't need to.
Moreover, the Royal Academy denies having made an error, for the plinth and hastily carved wooden support were, according to an official statement, "thought to have merit."
Hah – we beat 'em to it again! Except that they get paid for it. We're obviously doing something wrong here.
Media, Weird Stuff | Gaius June 20, 2006
By Shawn, June 20, 2006 @ 2:58 pm
Make some claim about a Rove indictment being imminent…oh, wait, that’s been done. Um, maybe something nearly as good–claim that a Kos indictment is imminent.