Poul ([info]liberpolly) wrote,
@ 2007-06-22 13:11:00
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Entry tags:art, politics, stupid

censored refugee art
they say that you're not a real artist unless you're censored for political reasons. well, this means that i have arrived :)

at the artvocacy show this tuesday, to which they specifically requested five of my paintings, The IRC didn't show this painting with other two; the unofficially stated reason was that there are persons of arab descend that may be offended by it.

well, if there is a reason to deny refugee status in america, it's for being offended by art. refugees, fleeing from political prosecution, shouldn't expect to have artists in their host country being censored for political reasons.

on a side note, seattle passive aggressive political correctness, expressed by unnamed officials of the IRC, is ridiculous.

it's the first time my art was censored for political reasons since i left USSR; i am amused :)


p.s. few background details about this painting:
- it is unique for me in a few aspects: it's painted in style of late socialist realism, and it's almost literally taken from a news photo, two things that i otherwise never do;
- the name of the painting is actually part of it, another thing i try to avoid;
- it was politely rejected by any other gallery that has shown my work, and i don't blame them; this is why i was so pleasantly surprised when IRC asked me to show it;
- the word in arabic means nothing, you're supposed to add your own meaning.


(34 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]poh
2007-06-22 08:37 pm UTC (link)
Shit, we can't have challenging art now, can we? GAAAAHHH!

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-22 08:38 pm UTC (link)
we can, as long as it's not challenging muslims, or they will start blowing up things.

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[info]poh
2007-06-22 08:43 pm UTC (link)
Right, I forgot that it's ok to criticize everybody else's religious bat-shit antics except for Muslims. They're "victims."

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[info]cambler
2007-06-22 09:00 pm UTC (link)
On behalf of the Jews, I'm pretty pissed off that someone else has taken over being the "victims" these days. I mean, really...

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[info]poh
2007-06-22 09:19 pm UTC (link)
Time to organize a student movement, maybe get Rage Against the Machine to write a song.

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[info]bittergourd
2007-06-22 09:11 pm UTC (link)
HEY!

As a muslim, I take offense to that.










Not really. Though. Just you get less bacon from this muslim from now on :P

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-22 09:17 pm UTC (link)
shit. ok, i take it back. praise allah, and bring the bacon!

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[info]bittergourd
2007-06-22 09:19 pm UTC (link)
You, my friend, always will have the power of bacon with you. You don't need me for that :)

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[info]patosa
2007-06-22 10:24 pm UTC (link)
you are such a lousy, unorthodox jew. ;)

maybe it's your lack of respect toward your own personal beliefs that leads you to have this misunderstanding about your artwork.

*duck*

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-23 04:35 am UTC (link)
unorthodox != lousy
just ask jeeeeesus

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[info]poh
2007-06-22 09:18 pm UTC (link)
:p

If people could be as chill as you are man, MAN! Saw a bumper sticker on a car parked in front of Mamounia last year that read "Hookahs not bazookas."

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[info]bittergourd
2007-06-22 09:21 pm UTC (link)
All this planet needs is a hit from one huge ass hookah filled with pot :)

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[info]poh
2007-06-22 09:22 pm UTC (link)
YES. Good pot, not the paranoia inducing stuff, because that won't necessarily help.

Then everybody can settle their differences with breakdance battles.

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[info]bittergourd
2007-06-22 09:25 pm UTC (link)
I wholeheartedly agree. :)

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-22 09:32 pm UTC (link)
ok, at least my painting caused a discussion that arrived at the recipe for world peace.
behold the power of art!

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[info]poh
2007-06-22 10:01 pm UTC (link)
See? And that's why those spineless fuckers should show the painting.

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[info]vorona
2007-06-23 02:07 am UTC (link)
This is such a Seattle Moment.

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[info]poh
2007-06-23 03:59 am UTC (link)
POH: Always proud to be of service.

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[info]vorona
2007-06-23 01:57 am UTC (link)
My first thought upon trying Ecstasy, was "this, the Middle East, everybody, all sides, stat. Put it in the nana tea." Unfortunately, X is not very good for people. The potential for kidney failure, strokes, heart attacks, depression, etc., with X kind of ruins my 80s-induced concept for world peace. But still. A little instant empathy wouldn't be a bad thing, all around.

This country needs a president who inhales.

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[info]poh
2007-06-23 03:59 am UTC (link)
A little instant empathy wouldn't be a bad thing, all around.

YES. YES a million, billion times.

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-23 04:33 am UTC (link)
in reality, though, people in middle east smoke more hash than just about anybody. doesn't stop them, though. sometimes i think it's because due to the structure of their society, most men grow up knowing that they will never, ever, have sex with a female. that would make me murderous too, x or no x.

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[info]alypius754
2007-06-22 09:26 pm UTC (link)
Pretty much. If you'd painted Christians, otoh, then they'd be fawning all over you, saying how edgy it was. Of course, Christians aren't terribly likely to grab a scimitar and start chasing down people in the IRC office...

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-23 04:47 am UTC (link)
funny enough, this painting was stolen from one of my shows

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blame canada
[info]patosa
2007-06-22 09:02 pm UTC (link)
just put a maple leaf on one of their chests and then you can blame canada's lax security for letting the muslims into the states in the first place.

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[info]jeffpalmatier
2007-06-22 09:03 pm UTC (link)
The new biography of Khrushchev by William Taubman contains a great narrative of when he berated artists for their experimental art. Just hilarious.

What scares me nowadays is that so many people think they have a constitutional right not to be offended. When I taught at college, I noticed a definite difference in the mindset of my students who were born in the early eighties. They had been brainwashed into believing that the worst crime you could commit was to offend somebody's sensibilities.

I have a question that I've been meaning to ask you: Can Ukrainians and Russians understand each other, or are their versions of Eastern Slavonic just too different? I've heard conflicting answers to this question and I just wondered what your take on this was.

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-22 09:35 pm UTC (link)
that's borderline; the two languages are suffifiently different so russians who have never been exposed to ukrainian may not understand it, but living in the south of russia or even a small exposure to it makes it "click" and they start understanding it.

basically all slavic languages are similar enough so if you know 3, you can triangulate and understand all of them. i know russian, ukrainian and polish, so i can understand czech, macedonian, serbian, bulgarian etc.

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[info]jeffpalmatier
2007-06-22 10:21 pm UTC (link)
Ah, I see. Thanks for the explanation. I know that I've learned enough French and Latin that I sometimes can use that to understand Spanish and Italian words for the obvious reason that these languages are all related to Latin. After I learned about the sound shift that happened in German but didn't in English, then I could better understand the similiarity between the two languages. I taught myself Russian well enough that I was able to pass a translation exam that involved translating a paragraph. However, I'm still very dependent on a dictionary and grammar book in order to understand Russian. Sometimes when I'm reading or hearing Russian, I'll be able to get the general gist--especially if I'm reading. You probably really need to immerse yourself in a language to become fluent. My German is pretty good, but I think I'd be light years ahead of where my ability is now if I lived over there for a year or so.

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[info]v_champion
2007-06-22 09:11 pm UTC (link)
Hmm wow. At first I thought this was kkk painting, then I realized it was muslim extremists. Yes, these extremists will attack artists/writers/filmmakers who dare to portray them in an unfavorable light. But hell, this painting of yours is so relevant to our time, and aren't artists as important as historians, if they choose to paint truly contemporary paintings?

I just watched the other night a special program on picasso's Guernica. The program extolled what a masterpiece and important work it was, especially because of its fearless political nature.

I find it appalling that this was censored. It is very sad that curators are afraid of being bombed or attacked to the extent that they limit themselves to an aesthetic prison, and willingly give up their freedom of expression in exchange for safety. It is probably their survival instinct which causes this reaction. Who am I to blame them for wanting to live. What the outrage is, is that we are driven to this behavior by the fear terrorists instill in us. A shame. The other reason for their decision is political correctness run amok. Some people will always be offended, and others will not. We have to stop coddling adults who choose to be afraid to face the truth. We handle them with kid gloves, and it is embarrassing to our society as a whole. Again, shameful.

"well, if there is a reason to deny refugee status in america, it's for being offended by art."

I agree with this.

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(Anonymous)
2007-06-22 09:48 pm UTC (link)
This could be: Justice for K.K.K Affiliates. The irony in censorship. It is always inspiring. ~Peace

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[info]dream_king
2007-06-22 11:44 pm UTC (link)
My offer still stands to buy that one from you.

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-22 11:54 pm UTC (link)
sure, anytime. do you want me to ship it or are you going to pick it up?

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[info]vorona
2007-06-23 01:48 am UTC (link)
It figures. It totally, utterly, fucking, figures. Congratulations!

"Piss Christ" would probably be fine, of course. Ya know. I wonder if they're actually being compassionate and respectful (i.e., politically correct) for philosophical or economic reasons, or if they're a little bit scared of being literally blown up or shot. Just sayin'. They may not have the security to handle a real threat of violence if this should offend the wrong person.

What's wrong with me that this reminded me of Teletubbies when I first saw it?

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[info]liberpolly
2007-06-23 04:37 am UTC (link)
i think they're just small city minds in a (now) big city. btw, i never thought about political correctness as "compassionate and respectful", more as stupid, condescending and soft-racist.

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[info]hannahsarah
2007-06-24 11:56 am UTC (link)
Well, we could go ask Theo VanGogh about his experiences with "A People of Peace".

Except not, because they killed him on account of his art.

Anywho, congrats on, um, something or other.

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