Fail Blog Friday

I love art. Any kind of art is welcome. Painting, theatre, music, cooking, etc. The one art that I just can’t stand is experimental. To me, experimental art is masturbation. People do it just to please themselves. They don’t give a shit about their audience. I went to LACMA when I was in college and saw this one experimental piece where this chick had dressed up like the painter Freda and she peed on stage. That was her act. She would inject herself with something and then proceed to squat over a bucket and pee. That’s not art. Then, there was another room where this chick was pretty much naked. All she was wearing was an Indian Chief’s head dress and a dildo and she was jacking off with the dildo. That’s not art either.

The most recent piece of crap I heard about is being created by this guy named Richard Whitehurst in Columbus, Ohio. He is creating something called The Rape Tunnel. The piece is set to go up on October 30^th. Here is his description of this tunnel:

In the 4D Gallery main room, I’ve constructed a 22 foot tunnel out of plywood that leads into the project room. There is no way in or out of the project room except for this tunnel. As you travel through the tunnel, it gets smaller and smaller, making it so that you have to crawl and put yourself in a submissive position in order to reach the tunnel’s destination. At the end of the tunnel the subject will find me waiting in the project room and I’ll try to the best of my ability to overpower and rape the person who crawls through.

Really? Anyone who enters this tunnel knows what they’re getting into. It’s not a surprise, so doesn’t that make it consensual and not rape at all? To tell people they will get raped if they go through a tunnel and they enter the tunnel on their own, doesn’t that mean they’re welcoming the rape? To me, that’s not rape. Anyway, the idea is sick. Of course, all the feminist groups are freaking out about this. This isn’t the first time he’s done something ridiculous like this either. Prior to this rape tunnel piece he created a tunnel just like this, but instead of raping people at the end, he would punch them in the face. Turns out he broke a models nose and she sued him. He thinks it’s great because his “art” has a lasting impression on her because she will never forget how her nose was broken. After reading that, I freaking hate this asshole. That’s not art!!! I would have sued too. He claims that he doesn’t care what effect his art has on people, just as long as it affects them. Any artist can say that, but a punch in the face and a broken nose is not something I would want to strive for. Raping and hitting people can ruin someone’s life. Art isn’t meant to ruin one’s life. Usually art enriches life.

All I have to say is that I really hope this guy goes to jail. Like I mentioned earlier, it can be argued that this isn’t rape because it’s consensual, but still. I kind of want to go to Ohio and stand outside this tunnel and make sure no one enters. This makes me so mad!