Posh parents defend their child scrambling over Tate Modern scultpture

[Orang Utan]

And cravats.

It is far better to sport a cravat than a tie

 

[KeeperofDragons]

In Watford there is a sensory sculpture and when my kids were little they were running thier hands across with thier eyes closed to see what it felt like & a miserable sod told them off & me for letting them I answered that that was the point of the sculpture & I was backed up by a passing woman who I found out later was a local councillor Mind you if said miserable sod was passing a little earlier he'd have caught me doing the exact same thing

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Many years ago I heard a story on The Today Programme to the effect that a large bronze Henry Moore sculpture (You know the bulbous abstracted but still partly representational figure shapes with holes in), had fallen off a lorry on the M1. They didn't say whether it had been seriously damaged.

I tried to imagine a punter going up to someone in a nearby pub saying "What will you give me for this? It fell off the back of a lorry." Of course since then Henry Moores and other bronzes have been stolen from their sites purely for scrap value.

There is a very old story of a Brancusi solid metal, very abstract "Bird In Space" sculpture being charged extra tax on being imported into America because it was considered to be just a piece of valuable metal and not a work of art at all. I have no source for this story though but it does the rounds every so often.

(EDITED TO ADD) I have just found the story confirmed on Wikipedia with full details.

 

[kenny g]

That dad looks like he has had one hell of a hard time - it must really take it out of you having such creative and adventurous children.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Believe me, bolting it down isn't much of a deterrent to scrap metal thieves.

We've been lucky; the one here hasn't been stolen yet - but they strip houses under construction, and pretty much any place else that metal can be gotten.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

. My son reached across to touch 'Sunflowers' in the National Gallery but 2 guards came out of nowhere to stop him. I had told him that we weren't allowed to touch the works, but I guess curiosity over-took him as he had been working on his own version of sunflowers in school.

I'll bet he was younger than the kid in the op.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

the smugness of the parents is annoying but who cares about a kid climbing on some "art", sure doesn't every two bit artist claim their work is meant to problemise or reimagine the relationship between itself and the observer.

Some people care about 'art'; some even value it and think it has worth in society. Others may not.

 

[UrbaneFox]

That photo shows everything that is wrong with Broken Britain.

His scarf is, as Barthes termed it, the punctum

 

[equationgirl]

We've been lucky; the one here hasn't been stolen yet - but they strip houses under construction, and pretty much any place else that metal can be gotten.

Metal thieves have gone after railway racks and substations recently, one even caused massive disruption (and somehow avoided death) because they went after live cables on a major commuter route.

The lowest one I can think of was the ones who stole lead from the rood of a charity-operated cancer support centre, which caused massive consequential damage because it rained and the contents of the room were ruined, including computers etc.

 

[brogdale]

And cravats.



So, how did that make you feel about your mother...?

Well......in my (7 year old) mind I probably thought I looked as cool as the Monkees or something....so I'd have loved her even more.

To the best of my memory it would have looked something like that worn by the guy bottom right...only both in pink!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Metal thieves have gone after railway racks and substations recently, one even caused massive disruption (and somehow avoided death) because they went after live cables on a major commuter route.

The lowest one I can think of was the ones who stole lead from the rood of a charity-operated cancer support centre, which caused massive consequential damage because it rained and the contents of the room were ruined, including computers etc.

There have been a few cases where numpty metal thieves have tried to steal copper cables. Only to find out too late that they were live and carrying thousands of volts. Saved the courts a job in trying them I suppose.

 

[shygirl]

I'll bet he was younger than the kid in the op.

Yeah, he was, think he was about 7 or 8. And I was watching him pretty closely, but it only took a second.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Well......in my (7 year old) mind I probably thought I looked as cool as the Monkees or something....so I'd have loved her even more.

To the best of my memory it would have looked something like that worn by the guy bottom right...only both in pink!

I had the one top left.

'Simplicity - 75 cents in Canada' That brings back memories.

 

[not-bono-ever]

those parents are horrendous obviously, but its not the kids fault - equally, the snapper should not have twattered the pic and got all angsty and precious about art( to a point anyway)

this pair are differnt sides of the same coin I spose

 

[free spirit]

personally I reckon the kid had it right - since when was a set of shelves considered to be art?

when I were a lad there'd have been me and my 3 brothers up there, one per shelf.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

personally I reckon the kid had it right - since when was a set of shelves considered to be art?

when I were a lad there'd have been me and my 3 brothers up there, one per shelf.

I don't have a problem with the kid at all. I can sympathise with the parents, too - tempting to let her do it. But I can also see how it's not very grown up to allow your kids to climb on sculptures in a gallery. I'm not very grown up myself sometimes, but that's not really a good thing. It's a case of 'if everyone let their kids climb on stuff, barriers and ropes would be put up, which wouldn't be good', so letting your kid do it isn't a very civic-minded thing to do.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

personally I reckon the kid had it right - since when was a set of shelves considered to be art?.

When it's in the Tate?

 

[free spirit]

When it's in the Tate?

see I'd be stood there wondering why the fuck they'd put some shelves up but not stuck any books on them. Or maybe that's what the artists was aiming for.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

This Oldenburg piece is in the Tate, too:

Called 'Soft Light Switches'

I wonder if the kid tried to flick on the lights?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

see I'd be stood there wondering why the fuck they'd put some shelves up but not stuck any books on them. Or maybe that's what the artists was aiming for.

It's Tate Modern, though. You'd know to expect this kind of stuff.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

see I'd be stood there wondering why the fuck they'd put some shelves up but not stuck any books on them. Or maybe that's what the artists was aiming for.

I think you're more clever than that, and you'd realize that as a rule, you don't see bookshelves in museum viewing rooms. What's usually in there, is pieces of art.

I'll admit to being fooled a couple of times by heaters, etc. though.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

This Oldenburg piece is in the Tate, too:

Called 'Soft Light Switches'

I wonder if the kid tried to flick on the lights?

Lots of art is crying out to be touched and played with. The artists themselves probably wouldn't mind in many cases. But the galleries have different agendas. It's the same in museums where people might think that their touching a piece of stone isn't going to do it any harm. And they're right, it won't. But thousands of people touching it will. That's where 'being a grown up who can think about wider issues' comes in.

 

[free spirit]

I think you're more clever than that, and you'd realize that as a rule, you don't see bookshelves in museum viewing rooms. What's usually in there, is pieces of art.

I'll admit to being fooled a couple of times by heaters, etc. though.

true, I'd probably end up asking if someone had nicked the art from the shelves.

I house shared with an art student once. I really didn't know what to say to him after going to the opening night of his first exhibition, it was a real struggle not to take the piss.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Lots of art is crying out to be touched and played with. The artists themselves probably wouldn't mind in many cases. But the galleries have different agendas. It's the same in museums where people might think that their touching a piece of stone isn't going to do it any harm. And they're right, it won't. But thousands of people touching it will. That's where 'being a grown up who can think about wider issues' comes in.

This is a good example of what you're talking about.

The breasts of a “Princess Iron Fan” statue in Turpan Flaming Mountain Scenic Area in Xinjiang have been rubbed so much by tourists that they’ve changed color.

Princess Iron Fan is a character in the popular children’s story “Journey to the West” and Flaming Mountain is depicted as the hottest place in China and one of the most difficult challenges faced by the Monkey King and his disciples.

The statue was last given a revamp in 2012, when no doubt a similar fondness of groping the chest area occurred. In less than a year, the poor old statue is in need of reparations once again but it seems like poor Princess Iron Fan’s perky boobs will always be too irresistible for tourists.

Indian mithuna figures often have discolored breasts for the same reason. These statues are usually stone or bronze, and the changes are only visual. But if people flick the lights on Oldenburg's switch 10,000 times, the fabric is going to give out.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

true, I'd probably end up asking if someone had nicked the art from the shelves.

I house shared with an art student once. I really didn't know what to say to him after going to the opening night of his first exhibition, it was a real struggle not to take the piss.

Not saying this is you, but I think lots of people think there's some sort of reverse chic in playing the artistic blockhead, ie the person who looks at art and goes 'Wha..?'

Then all the other good old boys can laugh at the eggheads with artistic pretensions.

 

[free spirit]

I'm probably one of the few people to have ridden this horse...

 

[free spirit]

Not saying this is you, but I think lots of people think there's some sort of reverse chic in playing the artistic blockhead, ie the person who looks at art and goes 'Wha..?'

Then all the other good old boys can laugh at the eggheads with artistic pretensions.

some of it's just shit though, and deserves to have the piss taken out of it.

I'd prefer to be the little boy pointing out that the emporer had no clothes on than the idiots stood around making out they could see the beauty in the clothes.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

some of it's just shit though, and deserves to have the piss taken out of it.

I'd prefer to be the little boy pointing out that the emporer had no clothes on than the idiots stood around making out they could see the beauty in the clothes.

I think some of it is shit, too. But I respect the impulse to try and create, to try to make something that's beautiful, or which carries a message, or teaches, or warns. I also try to remember that my level of understanding isn't the be all and end all of everything.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I'm with jc3 on this.

I probably like more modern art than most urbs, but only an idiot would like all of it. My test of an artwork is whether or not it produces an emotional response in me. Some people think they must be missing something, that there's some secret they're not privy to, but that's not usually quite the case. But that said, I'm also with Grayson Perry when he says that sometimes appreciating art requires some effort on the part of the viewer. So if you come to modern art not knowing anything about modern art and its various traditions, you are unlikely to be able to appreciate it - you won't know the visual language, and you may miss what the artist is trying to do.

I think people are sometimes scared of laughing at artworks too. I really like it when a piece of art makes me giggle. That's a good emotional response.

 

[free spirit]

I think part of it is that I've worked with some incredibly talented artists producing some pretty ground breaking stuff, as well as some just producing good solid art, and others who produce really good hand made furniture, and a fair few of those who actually made the artwork for some of the big name artists.

The high brow art world is a load of snobby bollocks based around who you know, marketing and the knowledge that most of those in the simpering art world are far too scared of being shown up to actually dare question the artistic merits of anything that's been deemed as being art by those at the top of the high brow art field.

I remember Newcastle council spending £1.4 million on a supposed artwork by Thomas Hetherwick known as the blue carpet, which was basically a square outside a dodgy nightclub being dug up and replaced with blue tiles, with some glazed bits showing some multicoloured neon lights below the square. Everyone in the council art department was far too in awe of the artists to actually consider the wisdom of spending this money on something that would inevitably rapidly get trashed due to it's location, nor to even budget for it being cleaned or maintained.

Sure enough, when I went back recently they'd got rid of all the fancy bits and it was just a flat square of faded blueish tinged tiles, well worth £1.4 million.