Satirist reclaims Germanness, Banksy, museum donors curate at AIC, Trump and the art of the d***, and more

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Democracy takes another hit, this time in Germany

Jan Bömermann. Photo by Jonas Rogowski Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Jan Bömermann. Photo by Jonas Rogowski Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Germany will prosecute satirist Jan Böhmermann for his poem detailing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s forbidden love of goats, child molestation, beating and gang-raping women and other sexual preferences, as well as the smell of his farts (wait, how does Böhmermann know about that?).  Böhmermann read the poem on his late night  show on a German public TV station, and then Erdogan’s government invoked an obscure law criminalizing insults to foreign leaders. Merkel, worried about the EU deal for Turkey to accept refugees, made an embarrassing overture to Erdogan and agreed to allow prosecution of Böhmermann.

Of course. After befouling international humanitarian law, why would Merkel stop to protect freedom of speech? Democracy is always lost one bit at a time. US and English editorialists are outraged that Merkel would cave to an authoritarian Turk on press freedom, from the moral heights of homelands that deport refugees and even set up privately-run concentration camps for refugees, after bombing and impoverishing their countries. (And I am outraged that Merkel would reenforce degrading stereotyping of Germans … as humorless.)

Böhmermann announced he would leave Germany on a study trip to North Korea to learn about freedom of the press and artistic freedom.

Image from video "Be Deutsche!"

Image from video “Be Deutsch!” Neo Magazin Royale.

Bömermann’s English-language music video “Be Deutsch!” had gone viral a few weeks before, a million views in its first day, under the hashtag #makegermanygreatagain. Cute comparisons of Trump’s racism and German xenophobia. Böhmermann reclaims “Germanness” from the racists, casting German identity as tolerant, liberal, multicultural, birkenstock-tramping, hejab-wearing, doner-eating, and queer. Sounds more fun than American identity.

Thanks to our free and democratic media, you have to search in Reddit to find the words in Englishfor the Erdogan poem. But here are some of the words from the music video “Be Deutsch” on Youtube:

“Achtung! Germans on the rise, but this time we are fucking nice!” “Say it clear and say it loud, we are proud of not being proud. Human dignity is unimpeachable, you will learn if even we were teachable.”

Why Banksy draws like a shark hunts

Photo by Stefanie Doll, Flickr. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo by Stefanie Doll, Flickr. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Banksy Unmasked Daily Mail

The Daily Mail claimed they found Banksy, July 13, 2008.

Can a criminologist identify Banksy by mapping his “geographical patterns”? Texas State University Prof. Kim Rossmo says he can adapt a formula used to identify “serial thieves, rapists and other criminals” to unmask Banksy (it’s called Rossmo’s formula). Rossmo analyzes crime sites and calculates probable relationships between the sites and the criminals’ homes. The Daily Mail investigated and thought Banksy was Robin Cunningham.  Using about 140 of Banksy’s sites and the known addresses for Gunningham, Rossmo thinks they were right. For more (including why Banksy draws like a shark hunts) look at (or listen to) FiveThirtyEight’s interview with Rossmo.

An exhibition review that teaches museums their job. Or, with donors like this, who needs curators?

Art Institute. Photo by Calbeeb, (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Art Institute. Photo by Calbeeb, (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Lori Waxman, former F Newsmagazine editor and now Tribune art critic, wrote the kind of art review that teaches a museum its job in “Contemporary Quandary”: Art Institute Stumbles in exhibit of its art from 1945 to present. The Art Institute’s “The New Contemporary” is dominated by a major donation valued at $500 million; cool. But the terms dictated by the donors require the museum to keep the work on display, arranged as is, for 25 years, and after that on display with possible relocation for another 25 years. The accidents of collection and the egos of donors trump the real role of a museum:  “A museum is a place where artworks are put into social, political and aesthetic contexts; engaged in conversations with each other and with visitors; singled out and clustered together; and given fresh perspectives,” says Waxman.  How often have the signage and audio tours for exhibits done this job for you in a major museum? What would museums be like if art history and criticism trumped donor relations?

One of the most interesting art reviews I’ve seen in years.

Below: An attitude toward the Art Institute of Chicago, by designer Eric Baskauskas for F Newsmagazine.

Art Institute of Chicago devoured by F Newsmagazine's mascot. From the t-shirt of award-winning F designer, Eric Baskauskas. CC BY-SA 2.0

Art Institute of Chicago devoured by F Newsmagazine’s mascot. From the t-shirt of award-winning F Newsmagazine designer, Eric Baskauskas. CC BY-SA 2.0

Erasing the border wall with art

Mexican artist Ana Teresa Fernandez and the art collective Border/Arte have painted sections of the US border wall sky blue, a “social sculpture” titled “Borrando la frontera.”  More photos in the Telesur article.

Artist wants to “make America great again”: Trump and the Art of the Dick

Illma Gore’s “Make America Great Again,” a partially flattering portrait of Donald Trump nude, shows that it isn’t so much the hands that are small; it’s that other thing. The Guardian reports that the portrait has been censored on social media sites and eBay, the artist was unable to show it in the US “due to security concerns,” and the refugee artwork sought asylum at the Maddox Gallery in London. The artist has been offered a sale-price of £100,000 and the threat of a law suit. See the image at the Guardian.

On her website, Gore explains, “‘Make America Great Again'” was created to evoke a reaction from its audience, good or bad, about the significance we place on our physical selves. One should not feel emasculated by their penis size or vagina, as it does not define who you are. Your genitals do not define your gender, your power, or your status.

“Simply put, you can be a massive prick, despite what is in your pants.”

Trump’s workers also practice “the art of the deal”

The 500 workers at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas voted to join the Culinary Workers Union, after protesting at Trump’s campaign stops. Trump was seen as especially vulnerable during his campaign, and the union used his anti-Latino politics to mobilize his employees.  The Guardian reports that workers at the hotel earn $3.33/hr less than workers at unionized hotels (there are 50,000 members of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas). Overall, non-union workers earn 79% of workers who are union members.

One Response to Satirist reclaims Germanness, Banksy, museum donors curate at AIC, Trump and the art of the d***, and more

  1. John Hagedorn says:

    I wonder if Germany could produce a Trump? Oh, they already did. No wonder we Germans have no sense of humor.

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