by Jerome du Bois
I follow the posts and comments at Franklin Einspruch's artblog fairly regularly, in the manner of one looking through a microscope. In the past, I'd be right in there with them. But this is a better way, at antiseptic distance; and with comments closed, no nattering, finger-waving rude jerks can bother us.
Franklin certainly has lively, frequent, and timely commenters. When he posts something, somebody's usually right there, and then the rest come in fairly promptly, staking out their positions, making their cases. Six days ago he posted about his trip to Montreal; 43 comments. Five days ago he posted about Henri Manguin; 47 comments, complete with Photoshopped examples. Four days ago he posted about more landscape painting; 98 comments and counting, intricate stuff about "experience" and "content."
Two days ago he posted enthusiastically about going to see an exhibition of plasticized actual human bodies, who may have been mainland Chinese political prisoners. Near the end of the post he wrote:
Is the exhibit art? No, it's an elaborate natural history display. Is it moral? Probably not. Am I going? Aw yeah.
Well, that stinks.
Fourteen comments. First, as usual, comes oldpro, some semi-famous artist whose name everybody is not supposed to mention. He objects, which is the right thing to do --but he's the same guy who makes a cannibalistic joke near the end of the thread. Go check it out yourself and see how only one person --China is Evil-- recognizes the truth; and note the conspicuous absence of all the other regular commenters. I guess arguing about human dignity is not as important as arguing about that "thingy" in the Manguin painting.
Everybody in mainland China is a political prisoner, no?
Yes.
Franklin Einspruch owes Asia so much, from the food he prefers to the martial arts he practices to the philosophy he espouses. Perhaps one of the "exhibits" will be in the lotus position.
But even if they weren't Asian, these are actual human bodies. I know, we live in the Rebarb, in the age when many --ghouls and fools-- enjoy the suffering of others, so this desecration hasn't stopped millions of people from filing through to see them. But it stops me. I strenuously object to this disgrace, and if I hear it's coming near Phoenix I'll see what I can do to thwart it.
Posted by Jerome at October 5, 2005 06:50 AM | TrackBack