Imagine what it's like to be in the middle of the jungle sleeping in your hut, then you wake up, and there's a tiger in the room looking at you. That's what it feels like when I wake up early in the morning and see one of your comments in my feed. I just know my mind is going to get ravaged. 🤗
It's so wonderful of you to come visit, dear fräulein. I am happy that you found this article interesting. Art is such a powerful form of expression that some use it to further their political ideals. Art in itself is political, but at the same time, it transcends politics. It can also be spiritual, but it transcends spirituality.
When art and the artist conform to politics and the zeitgeist, some would say it is corrupted.
I agree. A lot of artists try to make political statements through their art, and it can fail miserably. The art looks stale and boring. It's like the politics suck the fun out of the piece.
For me personally, art that wants to express a political message is rather uninteresting.
A lot of political art is silly and a bit obnoxious. If done correctly, a piece of art, even if it conforms to politics, can be great. In writing, Brave New World, Animal Farm, and 1984 are examples of great literature with a sound political message. These novels are clever, well crafted, and entertaining without being preachy. I prefer art that makes you think and feel strong emotions without clobbering you over the head with propaganda.
The artist discussed in that newspapers article delivers nothing of surprise for my taste, my eyes have long been accustomed to such sights, from where, I couldn't say exactly.
I'm not too keen on the shark art either because I think it leans too heavy on the shock value, but I guess we could say the same thing about Dali. Context is important to this story. Over a year ago, the following piece of art appeared in one of the False Creek neighbourhoods. False Creek is one of the affluent areas of the city. So, imagine how they felt when they woke up to this piece of art in the middle of a pandemic.
The art, whatever its intended message, looks very provocative, especially in this location. It is designed to shock the viewer and make him or her uncomfortable. This takes away from its original message. It also looks like the character is coughing, and given the state of things at the time when the pandemic had just struck, then some might not like seeing this outside their windows every morning. The shark boy looks similar to this piece, and it was also going to be placed in an expensive neighbourhood, but the residents rebeled, and the city canceled the plan.
It all just gets on my nerves, the "world" has been dying since my childhood days and supposedly everything is getting worse.
I think that many of us lose perspective on how much better things are now than they were in the past. There is a current bad habit in the media of blaming every ill, even those caused by plain human ineptitude, on global warming. When you shout boo! at every gust of wind, then the message gets saturated and loses all meaning. I wish they would stop with the dooming and get on with the science.
As I see it, there are two strong currents opposing each other here: The tech enthusiasts who herald a new era of bliss in anything called "quantum"
Quantum bliss? I love it! It goes hand in hand with quantum penile delight. 😜
So it is all the more gratifying to hear that among the administration there are a few jokers who have a sense of humour and can get away with it. I smiled a lot when I read the sign, which seemed to be a reference to the Dude lying in the park. LOL
The sign made me laugh. Too bad it got vandalized. I wish the vandal would have made his/her own sign, and put it beside the 'chilling' sign instead of ruining the piece. This would be more effective. As an example, the "Dude Chilling" sign in the park was a clever dig at the statue of the "Reclining Figure," a name that sounds a bit artsy and pretentious. Common people just called it 'the dude chilling in the park'. So the 'chilling' sign, as a form of protest, is clever without destroying the original statue of the Reclining Figure. This is a form of creative protest that enhances not limits our thinking.
Thank you for your ravaging thoughts, 
RE: In the Garden of Delights