Is This Hanging Sculpture a Dick or What?
As we established on Wednesday, art is for everyone and art "belongs to all of us." But what about dick art? Is this art for all of us?
This writer says hell yes, bring it on! In a similar controversy to the uproar Parisians caused over Paul McCarthy's magnificent Tree (a butt plug), residents in Auckland, New Zealand are taking issue with an aluminum mesh sculpture titled Transit Cloud that hangs above a train station in the New Lynn area. Transit cloud, this ain't, outraged residents are saying. Via the New Zealand Herald:
"Oh my God, it's a cock and balls," said Phil Wellman, of Blockhouse Bay.
"Don't you think it's rude?" said Henderson mother Janine Waters, walking her two young children in a pram.
"It's definitely that. What else could it be," she said.
The sculpture, which was created by artist Gregor Kregar cost $200,000 to make and was commissioned by the the Auckland Council. Kregar claims that the phallic nature of the piece was not intended, saying that the work was meant to be joyful.
Transit Cloud will soon be lit up with 165 feet of neon lights, and Kregar believes that will change people's minds about the allegedly "rude" work. Looks good to me: