Colston statue replacement
- Thread starter TopCat
- Start date
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Both. The artist saw the photo, got her to come in and pose per the photo, and did a 3-D capture job on her, then used the data to print sections of the statue on a 3-D printer, which were then used to cast the resin.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Good
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I'm 100% certain that some bunch of right-wing thugnutters WILL decide to topple it, and expect to get away with it.
With any luck, it'll be 4 fat pissed middle-aged blokes, whose plans will fail at the first hurdle...that of hauling 20 stone of lardarse far enough up the statue to be able to pull it down, and they'll end up yelling racist abuse while clutching cans of cheap lager, and picking a fight with the police. Also, Brexit.
With any luck, it'll be 4 fat pissed middle-aged blokes, whose plans will fail at the first hurdle...that of hauling 20 stone of lardarse far enough up the statue to be able to pull it down, and they'll end up yelling racist abuse while clutching cans of cheap lager, and picking a fight with the police. Also, Brexit.
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
if it pisses him off, i'm all for it
Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
My partner said it looked like a statue of a young woman that a middle aged man would make, which hadn't occurred to me.
It's not terrible but there is a whole problem of statues venerating individuals anyway - it was a bunch of people who pulled down the statue on the day and they were standing on the shoulders of the campaigners who had been at it for years... it is a good placeholder as existentialist said.
It's not terrible but there is a whole problem of statues venerating individuals anyway - it was a bunch of people who pulled down the statue on the day and they were standing on the shoulders of the campaigners who had been at it for years... it is a good placeholder as existentialist said.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
It's more of a record of a moment - the moment of the previous occupant's removal (edit: and I suppose the wider BLM movement) - than venerating an individual isn't it though? I quite like that it's just a statue of a random woman who was involved in the protests than some leader.
Raheem
Well-Known Member
Now there's a quote for the back of the artist's next coffee table book.
Fozzie Bear
Well-Known Member
Well I doubt that she was selected randomly by the middle aged posh male artist.
And it will increase her profile as a face of the protests. Not that this is her fault.
But yeah it is not a terrible thing, as a temporary measure.
no of course - he selected her because he liked the photo of her that went viral - I suppose the reason it went viral and the reason he liked it will of course have a male gaze element to it... but it is a striking image nonetheless.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
TopCat
Putin fanboy
The point butchersapron made earlier today about democratic use of space is resonating more as the day wears on.
Still happy though.
Still happy though.
tony.c
Well-Known Member
What does that mean in practice though? A ballot of local people - unlikely. The Bristol Mayor urging a democratic decision probably means a vote by 'democratically elected' councillors, either a full council vote or a council sub-committee, advised by council officials.
Thomas J Price makes some good points in this Guardian piece.
Thomas J Price, who has been commissioned to create a sculpture dedicated to the Windrush Generation, accused Quinn of creating a “votive statue to appropriation”.
“Unfortunately, it feels like an opportunistic stunt,” Price told the Guardian. “I think it would be far more useful if white artists confronted ‘whiteness’ as opposed to using the lack of black representation in art to find relevance for themselves.”
Price added that he understood the positive responses to the piece, which was modelled on the figure of Jen Reid who was photographed protesting on top of the empty plinth, but he believed Quinn’s work ultimately failed.
...
Price said he feels the Quinn piece could “overshadow any permanent sculpture”, and therefore hinder “real progress during a moment of activism that should have showcased a black artist’s output, not that of a white cis man”.
Thomas J Price, who has been commissioned to create a sculpture dedicated to the Windrush Generation, accused Quinn of creating a “votive statue to appropriation”.
“Unfortunately, it feels like an opportunistic stunt,” Price told the Guardian. “I think it would be far more useful if white artists confronted ‘whiteness’ as opposed to using the lack of black representation in art to find relevance for themselves.”
Price added that he understood the positive responses to the piece, which was modelled on the figure of Jen Reid who was photographed protesting on top of the empty plinth, but he believed Quinn’s work ultimately failed.
...
Price said he feels the Quinn piece could “overshadow any permanent sculpture”, and therefore hinder “real progress during a moment of activism that should have showcased a black artist’s output, not that of a white cis man”.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
you ask the wrong question, not what does it mean in practice but what should it mean in practice
and in practice it should not be up to the bigwigs whose forbears erected the statue but up to the actual demos, the people of bristol.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
points which you could read here instead of in the guardian
maomao
普費斯
It's been taken down anyway and sent to a local museum for the artist to collect.
www.theguardian.com
Black Lives Matter sculpture of Jen Reid removed from Colston plinth
The sculpture of protester has been taken to a museum for artist Marc Quinn to collect, says Bristol city council
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
The local fash will be spitting pips because they didn’t get to put it in the drink. Impotent. Bet they’d already wasted time setting up a Facebook page or something, or written racist invective on the comments page of one of the local rags that tolerates such shit.
tony.c
Well-Known Member
So what do you think it should mean in practice?
tony.c
Well-Known Member
The sculptor and the woman portrayed, Jen Reid, expected the statue to be removed within 1-7 days.
Interview with Jen Reid on Channel 4 News yesterday:
www.channel4.com
Interview with Jen Reid on Channel 4 News yesterday:
Statue of slaver Edward Colston unofficially replaced with sculpture of Black Lives Matter protester
A statue of a woman making the black power salute has appeared on the plinth where Bristol slaver Edward Colston once stood.
www.channel4.com
Athos
Well-Known Member
My first reaction to seeing a statue of a black woman protestor in the place of one of a slave owner was positive, but I did feel a bit unconfirmed about the process of it getting there. Quinn should've made the sculpture and gifted it to a Bristol- based BLM group, explaining he wanted to chip in the best way he could, and that they could display it or sell it - how've they consider it would best help the cause. And/or offered to e.g. fund a sculpture project by local black artists.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Nah. It was the gesture that mattered here, not specifically the statue, and as such, I think it has achieved what it set out to do.
And I think Bristol City Council has played a blinder. If that statue had remained, it would have become a focus for the far right, and would also have ended up in the dock, too. As it is, they've quietly taken it down, with no posturing or drama, treated it with respect, and said "come and get your statue".
A point has been made, and quite nicely, by both the BLM side, and by BCC.
Athos
Well-Known Member
The point wasn't made by "the BLM side" or local people, though. But by someone from outside the community imposing his vision on it.
