An art museum in Bolzano, Italy has refused demands from Catholics, including Pope Benedict XVI to take down and no longer show “Zuerst die Fuesse” (“First the Feet”), an art piece by the late German artist Martin Kippenberger showing a crucified frog. The frog’s eyes are shown popping out and his tongue sticking out. He wears a loincloth and holds a mug of beer and an egg in its hands.
The pope wrote a letter to Franz Pahl, the president of the Trentino-Alto Adige region and an activist who has engaged in a hunger strike to bring down the art piece. He quotes the letter from the Pope as saying that the artist “has offended the religious feelings of many people who consider the cross a symbol of God’s love and of our redemption.”
One can certainly see why the 3-foot sculpture would be offensive to Catholics and other Christians, though supporters insist that it is not a religious statement but an ironic self-portrait of the artist and his angst. The museum explained that “With humor and a tragicomic sense, which belongs to art since the times of Greek tragedy, Kippenberger … faces his condition of suffering, which he expresses in many works, also, for example, in a video in which he crucifies himself.”
Somehow I do not think the explanation will help.
For the full story, click here.
Since you are reduced to hunting for typos do you also include the typos JT makes in the articles he posts?
😉
Just curious.
Yes, I’m sure one would normally need to visit a Little America gift shop to see such craftsmenship as fine as this.
***
Righty – O
Mojo credited you with with ‘eloquence’ – Hah!
You can hardly spell! You ‘wreak’ ie ‘REEK’
– LOL and then some…!!! 😉
Yes, I’m sure one would normally need to visit a Little America gift shop to see such craftsmenship as fine as this.
My interpretation of the piece is ‘fff’, alphabetically, ‘666’ and devilish, to say the least… 😉 yowzahhh!
– The two feet nailed together, first of all, and then the two other ‘feet’, apart, nailed separately, one holding an egg, and the other, instead of a chicken(?), a beer…
Rather than a beer and a IV depiction, it is totally twisted, if not inimitably insane…
… ‘BUT I LIKE IT!’
LJM
1, August 29, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Do you feel that “The Life of Brian” also mocks the beliefs of hundreds of millions of people?
Of course not. While some Christians are offended by it, most are not.
The Life of Brian was never presented as anything more than zany comedic entertainment, and it was never about Jesus, but a man mistaken for him. It looked at religion and faith in a slapstick sort of way, something the British, if anyone, has a right to do, considering their suffrage under the yoke of the Church of England for centuries.
It did not insult Jesus, but instead looked more at the people who follow, or claim to follow. It certainly was irreverent but it was not mean spirited.
This frog, is not a big deal, and the church should let it go.
But the artist knew what he was doing and no doubt, given his talent equals some of the better peices I’ve seen in better roadside tourist knick knack shops across the country, most likely did it for publicity, and all the church is doing is feeding that publicity by condeming it and demanding it go away.
As I said above, the same protections that permit the church to condemn us all to hell, permit the artist to make muppet models mocking them. I didn’t condemn the artist, although his work is what it is. I condemned the “mean spirited” gleeful mocking by a blogger in here, by calling peoples belief system by calling it a “fairy tale” without any other commentary or purpose, other than to exhalt their own Atheist Belief System above that of the Theists.
That’s a great bit! Do you feel that “The Life of Brian” also mocks the beliefs of hundreds of millions of people? I think it can be argued that it does. But I don’t think it’s “not nice” that they made the film. Nor do I think it’s “nice.” I just think it’s hilarious!
LJM
1, August 29, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Cro Magnum,
What’s your opinion of Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian?”
😐
“crucified or set free?”
“uhh…. set free….”
“ok.. go to that line…”
“ha ha , just kidding, I’m here to be crucified”.
That this fellow has to the right to produce such a thing and call it art, is certainly his right, as it is my right to fart in mixed company. It is nonetheless not a “nice” thing to do.
And to pretend this “piece” is not mocking the beliefs of literally hundreds of millions of people is to dismiss intelligence.
The artist clearly knew what he was doing, however I also thing the pope and others displaying outrage should let it stand. The religion of Jesus never encouraged the stifling of free will, or expression of thought, but in fact encouraged it, so to demand this “artists” “piece” be removed, is to act in an un-Christian-like manner.
This artist is guilty perhaps of “flogging his frog”, and offending a lot of people in the process, but he does so with the same protections the Christian enjoys when he offends the rest of us by proclaiming we’re all headed straight to hell.
Cro Magnum,
What’s your opinion of Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian?”
seamus
1, August 29, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Making fun of a cherished fairy tale. Sign me up!!
This comment provides a prime example of how the emnity between the Theists and the A-Theists perpetuates.
It is one thing to debate and or dismiss the beliefs of others that do not coincide your own.
But gleefully mocking them just for the sake of mocking them, shows why A-THEISM is really no better than THEISM.
Insulting what someone else feels is sacred, and not in a debating manner, but merely one of juvenile glee, is a hubris all its own.
“He quotes the letter from the Pope as saying that the artist “has offended the religious feelings of many people who consider the cross a symbol of God’s love and of our redemption.””
Actually while Christians indeed see this as a tenet of faith, the untold thousands of people crucified by the Romans in this horrible manner(See history of Spartacus and Israel’s revolts for instance) saw and see this as evidence of the savagery that was Rome. The true barbarian culture of its time, whose only upsides were their fighting and engineering ability. Everything else they borrowed from other cultures, except for civilized natures.
I do not mean to stigmatize Italians since their Renaissance is a much better example of the glory of Italy and its worthiness as a culture.
Making fun of a cherished fairy tale. Sign me up!!
“More frogs Bob, Esq.? I’m starting to worry”
Carl Jung once remarked that frogs were God’s first attempt at making humans.
Personally, I think the Big Guy got it right the first time and was constrained to create a pair of sin-prone oafs named Adam & Eve; because he wanted to be needed more.
Thus the reason the Big Guy only called on his perfect frogs for the more troublesome cases; like getting the Jews out of Egypt.
But I digress.
Jail time for a little weed? NO! But for insulting His Holiness? That’s pretty serious stuff. I would stay away from that sort of thing myself.
I love it when my evil is appreciated…
palindrome,
You are evil–in a wonderful way!
More frogs Bob, Esq.? I’m starting to worry.. I’ll probably be excommunicated for this, but I think it’s a pretty good likeness of Pope Benedict – and therefore hilarious!
Crucifying frogs?
Inhuman bastards!
But where are the frogs?
There ought to be frogs.
Quick, send in the frogs.
Well it’s incredibly pretentious but I don’t see any actionable intelligence there!
full frontal frog foto
http://www.latimes.com/features/la-on-frog29-2008aug29,1,3528463.story