A new art studio in the Philippines is prominently exhibiting a nasty picture of Pope Benedict, says BWO. It’s called “Year of the Rat.” In case you can’t make it out, at his feet are plastic rats. Get it? Ratzinger? Rats? Infinitely clever these artists, huh?
He should move to America. High society would consider him a genius.
December 12, 2008 at 3:25 am
Is there a source article for this were I could see some more info? I know this may seem ridiculous, but it’s very easy to ascribe things to art without sufficient information. I know a few years ago there was an uproar about a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary with dung on it. The story that didn’t make it to the papers was that in the African culture it came from, it was actually a sign of high esteem.
There are plenty of things to object to in numerous pieces of art. But I’m reserving judgment until I get some more information. For all we know, those rats represent people born this year, which is the Year of the Rat in the Chinese Zodiac, and he’s shepherding them (I’m not saying this is true, merely that it’s a possibility). As for the image itself, absent rats, I don’t see what so objectionable unless you only like realist style works. Maybe that makes me a wack-job, but I’m inclined to reserve judgment absent further details.
December 12, 2008 at 4:10 am
It’s linked in the “BWO.” But they just reference it. I had to poke around Google to find more info.
December 12, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Cutting edge. Pushing the envelope. Daring. Makes a statement. Breaking through walls. New wave.
Yawn.
— Mack
December 12, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I could see this happening in the USA, but the Philippines? Not so much because it’s predominantly Catholic, as they’re not “edgy” enough for this sort of thing.
Unless they move here. Then all bets are off.
December 12, 2008 at 3:52 pm
It’s when art became more about feeling than talent, process than product, that we lost the masters of the future. So sad.
December 12, 2008 at 5:59 pm
NZIE makes a VERY good point. There are a lot of times that art is taken out of context to be offensive to other cultures…specifically in the West, because we have been conditioned for the last 60 odd years by pseudo-artists trying to “make a statement”. And of course, the easiest way to do that is to offend. But yeah, I’d have to see the context to this.
Another example, Nzie, is that in Naples there are a lot of statues of Mary covered in snakes (live ones depending on the time of year). This is offensive pretty much to everyone outside of the region (even in the rest of Italy). But they have a special pre-Christian tradition of reverence by “showering” objects with snakes. Don’t ask why.
So, it could be that in this particular society in the Philipines, rats are not as horrible as we find them here in the US. They might even be eaten, like cuiy/hamsters are in Peru. To Nzie’s point, I’d need to see the context before I am offended.
December 12, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Re the Philippines, they eat dogs in the barrios, but I never heard of anyone eating rats. At least not willingly. In addition, they are a very imitative culture, and the most Westernized (IMO) of any in Asia/Pacific.