Thursday, July 11, 2013

Culture Up (Out?) Your Ass Thursday

Say what you will about Chinese sculptor Chen Wenling (just the other day, talking to some colleagues, I said I found him shallow and pedantic, but I may have mistaken him for someone else), his work is certainly striking.

Take, for example, his 2009 series, What You See May Not Be Real. The painted fiberglass works skewer (below, literally) the Wall Street culture that berthed banking crisis of the late 2010s. In the work below, the figure pinned to the wall by the gas-powered bull (according the The Design Inspiration, farting implies bluffing or lying in Chinese culture) is intended to represent disgraced financier Bernie Madoff.



Subtlety, it seems, may not be a Wenling attribute. 

But if you like your art muscular and flatulent, Wenling's work is available through Ode to Art Contemporary Singapore. Pick up a couple for the team next time you're there.

11 comments:

Danimal said...

ever been to a client site (in this case a smallish, very upscale facility with about a dozen or so people working in it)where you've used the toilet before finding out said toilet has a flushing problem? anything that horrifying ever happen to you? yeah, me neither.

zman said...

Always perform a prophylactic courtesy flush immediately after dropping a deuce (and before adding paper to the mix) on an unfamiliar bowl. Unless you're in Penn Station, in which case all bets are off.

rob said...

clarence, kudos to the norva from rolling stone: http://t.co/lsootzul43

Dave said...

i want that sculpture in my living room. who wants to help me heist it?

rob said...

i'm in. that'd make for a great buddy caper movie.

rob said...

you'll need to get someone else to help you enlarge your living room.

Jerry said...

The Bridge on FX looks pretty decent.

zman said...

The bridge is over. Budda-by-by.

rob said...

poison ivy update: continues to suuuuuck

TR said...

New post up.

zman said...

I had a brutal case of poison ivy last year. Get yourself some Tecnu Extreme Medicated Poison Ivy Scrub and use it when you take a shower. When you get out of the shower put some hydrocortisone cream on it. Don't be surprised if this makes the blisters ooze. It's gross but you'll feel better. Repeat this process in the afternoon and before you go to bed. I had it on my arms and shins so this wasn't too hard to do. Your waistband location likely makes it hard to use the scrub at work but definitely use the cream.