The Angry Minute 2-16-01

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The Arts as we know it-or DON'T know it-took another giant leap backwards yesterday, when NYC Mayor Rudolph Guiliani said that an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art that includes a color photograph of a nude black woman portrayed as Christ at the Last Supper was "disgusting," "outrageous" and "anti-Catholic."
That's funny, I think an outgoing president who pardons a drug lord is indecent. But people make mistakes, I guess.
Then he declared that he would appoint a commission to set "decency standards" to keep such work out of public museums. When asked, Giuliani, who is Roman Catholic, said that he had "a few ideas" about who might serve on his decency committee, adding that they should be "basically decent people."
Bronx borough president, Fernando Ferrer wasn't laughing saying: " sounds like Berlin in 1939,"
Nor did H. Carl McCall, who is running for governor "This decency panel ought to look at all political operations at City Hall."

We as an audience don't want, or NEED for that matter, normal artists. That's why they're artists-they're NOT NORMAL. You don't gain insight to a higher level of intelligence by subscribing to a norm, indecent or otherwise. You don't have to like it, you don't even have to understand it. But don't discount its relevance simply because you don't get it!??
Art is NOT always a harmless paint-by-numbers you can hang above your sofa, next to Elvis-it SHOULD disturb you into awareness. Quit being so intimidated by the possibility of a black female jesus and move onto a higher level of acceptance and spirituality, and quit wasting our time on YOUR ignorance and a New York ANGRY MINUTE.

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