This week a new sculpture was installed here at the University of Virginia. It's an ugly, worthless piece, one that I wouldn't even classify as art. Anyone with the ability to cut sheet metal could make this eyesore. I overheard some girls who were talking about it say that this is the same artist who set up the orange gates in Central Park in New York City, as if that project gives this piece any more status. It's a piece by Calder, who died in the 1970s, so I think those girls were misinformed.
I didn't notice this on the display sign the first time I glanced at it yesterday, but upon examining the sign more closely today, I saw that the sign actually tries to prohibit photography of the piece without written permission from the Calder Foundation.
Well, this is totally stupid, unenforceable, and illegal. Remember, UVA is a state school.
For defiance of this idiotic threat, I snapped a photo of both the stupid sign and the ugly, worthless sculpture itself to share with my dear readers. So here's a photo of this piece of garbage, and I did not get written permission from the Caldwell Foundation to take this photo. See, unlike most people who might be deterred by this sign from photographing this large hunk of trash, I know the law. Photography is not a crime when conducted from public property, on the sidewalk, where I was. Bring it on, Calder Foundation.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Idiotic attempt to restrict photography of new Calder sculpture
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2 comments:
This prohibition is especially ridiculous when you consider how much money and effort the university puts into making the campus photogenic, and how proud it is to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Also, that sculpture is a terrible choice for a campus that is all red brick and Corinthian columns.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude did the NYC Gates, this sculptor is known for his mobiles, which are usually much better than this. This sculpture doesn't fit into the UVA atmosphere at all.
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