Danish artist Jens Gaischiot has been permitted to set up his sculpture, The Survival of the Fattest, not far from the famous statue of the Little Mermaid. This...er...work of art depicts a fat white woman borne on the shoulders of a black man, symbolizing, I suppose, Barack Obama's great debt to Helen Thomas, or perhaps Tiger Woods fulfilling a clause in his new prenuptial agreement that requires him to carry his mother-in-law around the mall.
Of course, what it's really supposed to symbolize is the wealthy white West living off the third-world poor. How cutting edge, Jens! Very up-to-date, indeed. Now, why don't you try something truly revolutionary, like a sculpture of Mugabe driving his Cadillac over a road paved with skulls, or Idi Amin gnawing on the leg of one of his political opponents.
Update - Friend and fellow blogger Boy on a Bike has another theory: "This is probably an unemployed auto-worker from Louisiana carrying a Goldman Sachs carbon credit derivatives trader."
Wow. Just wow. The hypocrisy and arrogance of that statue is just mind boggling, even considering all the crap we see coming from Congress and the White House.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when you read about this.
Jeff: Maybe I had it all wrong; perhaps that's a statue of a denizen of the third world carrying Al Gore (with very realistic man-boobs). Sorry about that, Jens!
ReplyDeleteWell, the poor dude from the Third World might be carrying Maureen Dowd (with very realistic man-boobs). If so, the poor slob is suffering needlessly and horribly!
ReplyDeleteI understand that a lot of US industry has moved out of the northern rust belt into the non-unionised south.
ReplyDeleteIn that case, this is probably an unemployed auto-worker from Louisiana carrying a Goldman Sachs carbon credit derivatives trader.
If Jens could get in touch with his inner cinema verite, er, so to speak, he would do a sculpture of a third world despot sitting atop the World Bank or the IMF which, in turn, was sitting atop an American taxpayer.
ReplyDeleteGeez, Yojimbo, one sentence?
Yup.
O/T, yet oddly related......
ReplyDeleteHeh!
Couldn't happen to a more deserving group of people.:)
ReplyDeleteFrom here in Tamil Nadu India (see my earlier comment on Al Gore post) I can say that this part of the 3rd world is busy making a living for themselves and ain't waiting around fo no fat ladies, as such.
ReplyDeleteNo recession here in India. Everyone's working as hard as ever, generally getting paid more for it too, from my casual observation.
Meanhwile westerners are loading themselves up with an unnecessary guilt trip. Oswald Spengler stuff more or less I think.
Plenty of American students wandering around here getting 'foreign experience' as credit towards degrees too. Their parents getting ripped off on that I'd say, but if you see these dopy trust fund kids with their designer '3rd world adventure' gear...
(formerly of Sydney) Bruce.
That is one ugly channel marker. Now if it is on my port side am I heading upstream?
ReplyDeleteBruce: I meant to say the other day that it was good to hear from you. How long are you going to be in India? That's not a permanent move, is it?
ReplyDeleteAwesomw man!!!
ReplyDeleteReally a good piece of art. I really surprised. its one of the best blog in art category. You should take art class. Show me your art workshop.
Thank you.
Well, if the Danes had any of that old Viking spirit, one of them would row out there and knock that fat woman off that poor black man's shoulders.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, aren't black people insulted by this?
Art: Recent college graduate?
ReplyDeleteHi Paco, its nice to drop back in here - always thinking of you guys and halcyon Blairistan.
ReplyDeleteNot permanent, but want to make it at least part of each year.
- I've lost heaps of weight and feel 10 yrs younger for one thing. Distance from western politics helps my blood pressure too.