American-flag-in-the-toilet art
The controversy surrounding an "art" exhibit in the cafeteria of the California Department of Justice building is heating up. Of the thirty or so paintings by California lawyers on display, one in particular has sparked outrage - it depicts an American flag in the shape of the continental United States being flushed down a toilet and is titled "Tank’s to Mr. Bush!" (See post of 7/23)
My opinion is that burning American flags in public is not funny and should not be considered free speech because it’s an inherently dangerous activity. And while I also think that desecrating American flags by other, more peaceful methods should likewise not be characterized as "speech," the circumstances of this particular desecration event are utterly laughable!
At the center of the controversy is Stephen Pearcy, a looney Berkeley lawyer who painted the American flag in the toilet. He, no doubt, fancies his childish scrawling as high art and a great follow-up to his previous work of hanging a U.S. soldier in effigy from a tree in his front lawn. According to the Sacramento Union, Pearcy spent all of twenty minutes on his masterpiece. Judging by the complexity of the work, I would say he is a very slow painter.
But the nut cases like Pearcy who think of all sorts of interesting ways to trash American flags are only part of the story. The people who sponsored and promoted this exhibit are the other part, and they are falling all over themselves trying to deny responsibility while at the same time, praising the so called art.
California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer is a co-sponsor and ring leader of the exhibit but is trying to distance himself from his role while at the same time, trying to avoid running into Governor Schwarzenegger in the hallway. The exhibit’s other co-sponsor is the California Arts Council, a taxpayer supported state agency, but according to Mary Beth Barber, Communications Director of the California Arts Council, “The exhibit was not funded by the California Arts Council.†Huh? Are you sponsoring it or aren’t you?
And Lockyer’s flack, Nathan Baransin told the San Francisco Chronicle that Lockyer, “…played no role in developing the guidelines on what the curator of this exhibit could pick or not pick.†I guess that Lockyer’s role was really less that of sponsor than of cheerleader for talentless lawyers with too much time on their hands. In a press release, he says it’s “an honor to co-host this powerful exhibit… the collected fine works of these artists – and lawyers – achieve these worthwhile objectives with style and beauty.â€Â
And in the same press release, Chairman of the California Arts Council, Muriel Johnson, says she was “impressed†by the work, describing it as “wonderful.†Forget about American flags for the moment, with an Arts Council Chairman like that, I’m worried about the future of art.