Ai Weiwei’s view-dominating homage to animal heads just installed at Olympic Sculpture Park is controversial—for SOME people, anyway. But me? I totally get it.
In an age of instagrammable fluff masquerading as High Art, this is a piece that really SAYS something. “What does it say, exactly?” you might ask, craning your neck to see the landmark Calder sculpture (as my date did, when I took her there on a vigorous walk. It was a natural choice for me since I am both active and cultured). And that’s a great question, in an age where we tend not to think so deeply about Art anymore, much less about the questions themselves. Questions! Such an important part of being a thoughtful art consumer. Wow, really makes you think. Anyway, what was I saying?
Oh yes—this piece is REAL ART. It’s art with a MESSAGE. Ai Weiwei is a genius! Did you know he was exiled from his home country for speaking the truth? *I* knew that. Because like Ai, I’m a bit of a rebel myself! I’m a loose cannon, what can I say? I can’t help telling it like it is. And I’ll tell you what I think about this piece: It hits HARD. You can’t ignore what Ai is saying with this one.
What is he saying? I mean, just look at it! The animals! Those faces! You can’t look away. You can’t hide from the TRUTH of what this piece is telling you. I love the truth. I’m real as HELL. That’s what all my friends tell me. Denzel told me this just the other day on his boat, he said, you know you’re a real artist at heart, because you see things the way they ARE (yes, it might be the Denzel you’re thinking of, but ha, it’s just Denzel to me).
I can’t believe all these people at the park saying things like “it’s a bit disturbing” and “honestly? Kinda garish?” Garish—like what does that even mean? I’ll tell you what all that’s about: a lack of introspection. A lack of contact with one’s essential, artistic humanity. And maybe even? A lack of self-awareness. Yeah, I’ll say it. People are all about appearances these days. They care more about looking the part than being authentic.
Ah, what a shame, no one really GETS art these days. But hey, you and me, we’re deep and we really get it, don’t we?
