Tumbling Woman?

[Karin Wells]

After 9/11, I was one of those who read the daily mini-bios of those who lost their lives in that tragedy. And it made a profound impact on me. Their lives weren't just about being "victims." Each and every one had been a living, breathing, magnificent human being.
At funerals we usually remember and celebrate the good parts of the life of the deceased...and we seldom dwell on the horrible way they died. Imagine the family's outrage if we did otherwise?

I think that "tumbling woman" is unfortunate in that its focus is on the exact method and moment of death...and in no way reminds us of any individual prior existence of those who died so tragically on September 11th.

I think that the reason I broke down and cried in front of the powerful Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC is because each and every person who died is remembered and honored equally with the dignity they deserve.

"Tumbling Woman," and others of that ilk that depict a suffering victim don't impress me much. They don't depict a life that really seems to matter....except in the manner of their death. Forever and always they narrowly define some poor soul as a "victim" whereas in reality, we are all so very much more than just that.

I feel that Fischl's work is fine as artistic sculpture...but as a concept for a memorial, this piece is insensitive and therefore I find it tasteless.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Michael,

I feel that Fischl's work is clumsy and heavy-handed. This has nothing to do with whether it is tight or loose. In comparison, Rodin was a great sculptor with a loose representational style. When I cited Bouguereau and Paxton as examples of art that I find appealing, I could just as easily have said Sargent or Raeburn. Sargent was a great painter with a loose representational style. William Merrit Chase was, in my opinion, clumsy and heavy-handed with a loose painterly style. Tightness or looseness has nothing to do with the quality of the work. I feel that Fischl's work is poorly executed and in order to get attention he flirts with controversy. I also happen to think his artistic statement was in extremely poor taste.

[Michael Fournier]

I have a great respect for all who have posted. Including those adamantly opposing Fischl's work and those that defend his rights to create and all those who's opinion is somewhere between.

I am done with this post I do not care to discuss this any longer. And in some ways wish I had not posted on the subject at all.

[ReNae Stueve]

When my father died.....I gathered many of his favorite things into a box. I knew that some day, I would place them in a glass case to be remembered. But I also knew that it would be some time before I did so. None the less, that box tugged on me. I pulled it out and looked through it privately. It was several years before I could display it and discuss it openly.

We have all lost this year. And we are being pulled by our feelings. I too wanted to express myself in some artistic way, for my own personal healing.

I don't think the subject peice would be so disturbing if it had been saved for a later date. I question the judgement of putting it on display this soon. I also understand the creator need to create it.

Just my two cents

[Jim Riley]

Michael

I, for one, am glad you posted. It is quite easy to post on threads dealing with sizes, compositions, lighting, the slant of a nose, etc., and yet another to engage in a heated discussion on subject matter, content, and execution of a sensitive event. In any case your comments never resorted to name calling or trash talk and were absent of any attempt to attach spurious motivation to those who simply differ in the role of art and artists.

These posts have away of revealing more about the respondents than the issues.

Thanks

[Denise Hall]

"I don't know, but maybe once in a while we need to be disturbed and feel the horrors of life to appreciate the beauty when we see it."

On the same vein - maybe once in a while (possibly with a little more than one year's space between the horror and the presentation of emotionally charged memorial statues) - we need to be disturbed and feel the horrors of life in order to be able to remember, put our problems in perspective, and appreciate what sanity and comfort we experience in the moment of our own lives.

I'm thinking - could this possibly be the reason The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. was so painstakingly created? Could this possibly be the reason we travel on "unknown to ourselves" pilgrimages to Dachau and Auschwitz and view the painful images in the statues that tribute the dead of that horrible holocaust? I do not mind at all the pain I feel as I look at those statues - it's the least I can feel - since I was fortunate enough to not suffer the way that generation of people did.

I think the tribute should be well done by talented artists - but who is picking them? The patron - as usual. The patron is not always full of artistic knowledge and the artist could be a fast talker (hmmmm, sounds likely).

I'm not at all familiar with this artist's work so I can't really criticise the statue. I think the fact that it was removed from the area it was displayed in says enough - the people most closely involved with the tragedy of September 11 cannot bear to look at it. It's too soon. I am glad they took it out.

Maybe some very talented artists will paint tributes or statues that merit the respect and emotional connection of the victims' families and the rest of us who will need to remember someday.

[Karin Wells]

"I don't know, but maybe once in a while we need to be disturbed and feel the horrors of life to appreciate the beauty when we see it."

I don't understand why someone would go out of their way to create "disturbing," violent or horrific "art" for any reason...most especially as a way to "appreciate beauty."

If I wish to get upset these days, I can read the newspaper or watch the evening news.

Here is how the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary describes PORNOGRAPHY: "Pornography is the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction...as in the pornography of violence."

By this definition, "Tumbling Woman" could even be called "pornographic" although it would be a stretch for me to label it as such.

[Timothy C. Tyler]

It's always easier to create something shocking. Well-executed art, so lovely and original that gives people pause and lifts their spirit - that's much tougher.

Any drunk can scream at a football game, we just don't get many Gettysburg Addresses.