This Belongs in a Museum
Bringing you museum-approved grammatical errors and typos since 2010.
Oh, and sorry - I DO NOT FOLLOW BACK!
Yesterday’s alien abduction post went over like a lead balloon, so let me redeem my sins with a visit to Salvation Mountain. Located on a hill north of Slab City, California, just several miles from the Salton Sea, this art installation was created by local resident Leonard Knight, who found the Lord Jesus Christ in the 1960s. With adobe, straw, and thousands of gallons of paint, Knight began to make numerous murals with Bible verses and Christian sayings (“Jesus Is The Way” “God Never Fails” “God Forgives Sinners”). But after nearly thirty years, the future of the art project is in doubt as 80-year old Knight was recently put into a convalescent home outside San Diego. (read this story) Several Slab City residents have agreed to watch over the mountain and scare off vandals, but usually “outsider art” sites just fade away. Hopefully, with enough volunteers and donated paint…and the grace of God…Salvation Mountain will live for eternity. Amen.
I kind of hate postmodern art. My mom attempted to be an artist when I was growing up so I always felt part of that world. But the shit I see nowadays just annoys the fuck out of me. I know this girl who lives in Ukrainian Village here in Chicago who has all her things paid for by her parents (that includes rent, car, vegan lifestyle, etc.) but gets to call herself an artist. And by artist, I mean, do shit that obviously took only five seconds to conceptualize, like, hang a coat by a chain from the ceiling. After seeing that crap a few years ago, I thought “Shit, I’m more of an artist than she is.” And that’s the truth.
But I’ll give this next so-called artist a pass. Maybe it’s because I’ve always had a thing for stickers. From December through March, this installation entitled The Obliteration Room is on display at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. Artist Yayoi Kusama built a large room, then painted every surface a brilliant white, effectively creating a giant blank canvas. Over the course of two weeks, the museum’s smallest visitors (or I like to call the most annoying) were given thousands of colored dot stickers, therefore transforming the space into a pretty cool-looking room. But is this so shocking? What do you expect when you give polka dots to a bunch of little kids? I mean, go to any random kindergarten class, and you will see finger paint and play-doh and food particles all over the place. And that’s only the first five minutes of the school day. Whatever.
Continuing with the junk theme from yesterday, here’s the latest art exhibition “Too Too - Much Much” from Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn. Using the motif of the beverage can, this installation at the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Belgium shows the meaning of quantity in our everyday lives. This is a hoarder’s paradise.
