Test Your Funny Bone #16

I love art. I enjoy going to museums and admiring the talent of the people who create the pieces on display. Whether it is paintings, sculptures, glass blowing, whatever. I just love looking at the creativity. Plus, I love learning and am happy to read about the artists and what inspired them to create a particular piece. However, despite all this, I have to admit that this doesn't mean that I always 'get it.'

The Mona Lisa, despite being a boring piece to look at, is obviously art and took talent to create, but not all things that are considered art require any talent at all. I was at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City a few years ago and there was an entire floor dedicated to the art of one particular artist. As soon as we walked in, I noticed the naked man and woman standing in the corner facing each other. That was one piece of her art.

There was video footage playing of a woman holding a loaf of bread over a human skull. Nothing happened, she just stood there. In another room, there was a naked woman lying on a table with a skeleton lying on top of her. This was an actual woman, not a sculpture. According to the placard, it was supposed to represent how we should learn to embrace our own mortality. Another piece was an old woman and young girl sitting back to back with their hair tied together.

I'm sorry. I just don't get it and I really don't understand why people give her money to do this. I could do this. Much of what people call art is nothing and I just don't understand the obsession with it. I feel like I need to find a way to cash in on this, but I don't think I am pretentious enough. I don't believe I would want to hang around with all those art snobs anyway.

Sometimes, I may not 'get' a piece I am looking at, but can at least respect the talent that went into its creation. There is some strange stuff out there, and some of it is derived from incredible talent, while other stuff is not. I am not just saying this about pieces I don't like. It doesn't take talent to put broken glass on a newspaper and say that it represents urban decay. (I've actually seen this.) Some of those 'artists' just know how to play the game to make some money. Other artists are incredibly talented, but work in strange ways (butter carving, painting with penis, using blood as paint, etc). Despite any of this, I am obviously not cultured enough to be a part of the art world. Plus, I believe being successful as an artist involves schmoozing a lot of people at showings and I just can't tolerate most people that long.

One of the things that I have discovered is that a lot of art isn't so much about the talent poured into it as it is about the message that it is trying to portray. This is what brings us to our picture for the week.

This statue portraying a baby on a tank can be found in Beijing, China. Here is what I would like you to do. In the comment section, share your interpretation of this piece of artwork. There was definitely talent involved in creating this piece, but what was the artist trying to say?

Is it commemorating a particular event?
Is it speaking out against some social injustice?
Is it trying to raise awareness about a certain cause?

Leave your interpretation of this sculpture in the comment section and I will post all of your answers on Friday. As usual, this is not a serious exercise and I challenge you to make us laugh.