Sore About Censorship

originally published August 23, 2006

 Let me first express my excitement and gratitude concerning having my artwork featured on the cover of Flagpole [Aug. 2]. This positive experience, however, was quickly countered with a negative and disheartening one when I was asked to remove one of my paintings from the Mercury Lounge (after being invited to show there) due to its subject matter. The work, titled “Surrounded by Silence,” juxtaposes a British gangster brandishing a handgun with images of a male lion and his fresh kill. In the background, a butcher’s wares hang in a refrigerated room.

My intention in assembling this group of images was to arouse questions concerning the glamorization of violence in mass media today. The scenes create an interplay between “natural” slaughter in the animal kingdom and “unnatural” slaughter amongst human beings. I was shocked and angered that the Mercury Lounge found the work unsuitable for public display, when the painting itself is no more gruesome than a veal battle on an episode of “Iron Chef” and no more bloody than a trip to the local deli or a late night re-run of “Wild Kingdom.”

The reasoning behind their decision was that the bar’s older clientele might find the piece offensive. (Their website advocates an atmosphere “geared toward adults” instead of a “young student crowd.”) However, I find it ironic that a bar whose mission statement promotes a “cosmopolitian [sic] setting,” and “dynamic art shows” inspired by the owner’s trip to Europe would, in the censoring of my work, prove themselves to be so short-sighted.

Jeremy Hughes Athens

Jeremy Hughes

Athens

Censorship Response

originally published August 23, 2006

Here at the Mercury Lounge, we’d like to sincerely apologize to Jeremy and the rest of the thriving community of talented artists in Athens. As an avid reader, I am a devout enemy of censorship and am disappointed to think that the Mercury would be misconstrued in anyone’s mind as practitioners of that sort of ignorance. I am sorry that Jeremy feels that he was “censored.” We like Jeremy and we like his work (this was the second time his artwork has hung here) and were chagrined that patrons (three groups) complained about the disturbing nature of the piece.

We are an establishment that tries to be very active in promoting local artists and musicians, and are proud to provide a space to sell and showcase works. In fact, three pieces have sold this past week. Because we are not a gallery, we ask only that the artists donate 10 percent of their sales to Nuçi’s Space. We also give a portion of sales from the opening to Nuçi’s Space, believing the more you help out in a community, the more the entire community succeeds.

Having said that, I will reiterate that we are not a gallery. Trying to create a relaxing and elegant environment for our guests is our number-one priority and I will put the comfort of my patrons above an individual’s ego every single time. If I didn’t do that, we’d be out of business and local musicians and artists would lose what support we can give.

Michelle C. Allen Mercury Lounge

Michelle C. Allen

Mercury Lounge

Tofu Baby

originally published August 23, 2006

In re: “Inherently Good” [Letters, Aug. 9]. Protein jet infusion, not ethical suspension, is at issue here. As Mr. Erchick so helpfully clarifies, Tofu Baby is a girl, or not a girl. In either case, the truth is that as processed biomatter she, or not she, would only have limited appeal to someone on a wheat-free diet; or to someone who is a girl, or not not a girl, or not.

With her newly acquired cult status - resulting from her HOT cartoon and her sexually charged performance as Kudzu Biscuit Baby in Sushi Bikers From Hell 3000 - Miss Baby is the obvious choice as the next international sexually ambivalent nutritional icon and DIVA, except for the fact that she is by her very nature morally in the RED. Why? BECAUSE she doesn’t have shoes - SHOES - shoes for my BABY - red shoes if possible, or not, but definitely for my baby. Baby needs new shoes. And she does like red, actually a LOT, but it’s not like it has to be red, or anything, or not.

It hurts me to say this y’all, but Tofu Baby is a spy. In reality Miss Baby is an Amino Acid agent for S.O.Y. She works covertly as a Deus-Ex-Machina-lacking shill for the Corn Syrup Mafia and as a dietary Bounty Hunter for the Stomp-Out-Rice religious Right. Sure, she may not have started out that way in the beginning, or the end of the beginning of the end, but when the beginning eventually became the end, or the beginning of the end, she had become that way, or not, oh dang, I forgot.

As is said in the end of the beginning, in suet to it.

G.D. Davidson Athens

G.D. Davidson

Athens

Georgia Aquarium

originally published August 23, 2006

I enjoyed the piece on the Georgia Aquarium and agree with its assessment of the whole Disneyfied experience [“Aquaria Nouveau,” Aug. 9]. It’s entirely emblematic of their approach that they selected a Garibaldi, native to the Pacific coast, as their spokesfish when “Deepo” could have been one of several orange darters that are native to Georgia. I thought the comparison with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago was a little misplaced, however. I haven’t been there in years, but, as I remember, the ooh-ahh colorful fish portion of the Shedd is on an entirely different scale than Georgia’s. It’s true that the Georgia Aquarium is something of a throwback to earlier designs such as the Shedd and, say, Boston’s Aquarium, in that it essentially ignores local systems in favor of the exotic and the spectacular. This approach is in contrast with recent regionally-focused designs, such as the approach taken by the facilities in Tennessee and Monterey. However, though the Shedd is one of the oldest public display aquaria in the country, as far as I know, more than half of it is a Monterey Bay-style integrated ecosystem on the critters and habitats of of the Pacific Northwest that opened in the 1990s. At least the folks in Chicago make the attempt to present their exhibits as natural systems as opposed to a collection of curiosities.

My first visit to the Georgia Aquarium was as part of Prof. Gene Helfman’s ichthyology class and we were struck, as Ms. Shields was, by the almost total lack of identifying signage, to say nothing of the dearth of interpretive materials. To that end, I put together a site (http://delkins.myweb.uga.edu/ich06/ichpix.htm) where I could post the pictures taken by the class, along with identifications, as best I could manage, and appropriate links to FishBase, the de facto web standard for fish taxonomy. (Unfortunately, the descriptions lack the ecological information that really ought to be included for a general audience.) I know Gene sent the link to the folks at the Georgia Aquarium. They did not, to my knowledge, respond, which isn’t really much of a surprise….

Thanks for the critical and entertaining review.

Duncan Elkins Athens

Duncan Elkins

Athens

A McExperience

originally published August 23, 2006

I take my kids to McDonald’s. What can I say, the air-conditioned playground and happy meals outweigh my terror of conditioning them to the McDonald’s universe. This fear is justified. The toys right now in the happy meal are little Hummers for boys and a booby-woman and pink wardrobe for girls: apparently, boys should grow up and destroy the environment whereas girls should obsess over clothes, have boob jobs, and like pink. Got it. No problem. What was disturbing, however, was the quantity of Bush bumperstickers on the cars in the parking lot. How can it be that Georgians still support this president? How is it possible that Georgians still favor Republicans? Are people in the South all just a bunch of dumbasses? As Rumsfeld would say, definitely. Can such a large group of people be simple idiots? Probably. Is there any hope these people could actually learn and not destroy the planet Earth? Doubtful. Yet I find these answers dissatisfying. Red states cannot be simply dumber than blue states. So what is it? Religion? Religion definitely makes even intelligent people idiots. I think more than that, however, it is still fear. Republicans, oddly, are still perceived as strong on security. As Rove would put it, they go into action (which means they just bomb everyone and sort ‘em out later) while Democrats offer therapy. What is odd is that this is as far from the truth as truth can be. Most of the measures that we could take to keep us safe from terrorism we are not implementing. NSA spying, financial tracking, no fly lists, etc. have not foiled terrorists. Real measures would include computer fingerprinting at airports, anti-missile technology on airplanes and sensitive buildings, port security, guarding sensitive sites like nuclear plants and chemical factories, etc. All those things we cannot do because they are too expensive. Imagine how safe we would be if we took that 300 billion dollars we have spent to embroil ourselves in a civil war in Iraq and spent it on real security for America. Instead, we started a war that has proved to be the greatest recruitment tool for terrorists imaginable. In the process, we have alienated the whole rest of the world who now see us as a threat equal to Iran. As the Middle East goes up in flames, our president goes on vacation. A recent analysis has shown that since the beginning of his presidency, Bush has spent almost a full year on vacation. Even Tony Blair, the other leader chosen by God, curtailed his vacation to deal with the crisis between Lebanon and Israel. So, please, all of you Bush-bumpersticker people, I beg you to get a clue. It is not patriotism to follow an insane king, it is simply loyalism. We are not Democrats, or Republicans, or liberals or conservatives, or reds or blues, we are Americans. Let’s save our country from the politicians who would destroy it.

Randy Rodgers Email

Randy Rodgers

Email

A Terrible Idea

originally published August 23, 2006

Do driving schools now incorporate special multi-tasking instructions like: “cell phone and pinky” versus “nine and three"? I’m seeing an awful lot of that tearing through intersections and racing down the highway. I resent the fact Georgia law makes sure I have to absorb the content of someone’s (uninfringed) cell call while they hurtle along in a two-ton flammable box. My prediction is the law will change, but only when a “popular” enough tragedy occurs. A politician (a good one, popular) or a (well-liked) child must be killed first, ’cause it seems here the parading mice always await tragedy before admitting common sense. It’s a replacement for the crap idea it was to let people smoke on planes. God, what a rotten idea that was. Now, of course, everyone’s on their high horse about the “dangers” therein. But cell phone culture is “new,” so this ignorant permission to supposedly not infringe on people’s freedoms and let them have full-out conversations requiring them to release the wheel is allowed to progress. It’s a terrible idea. Most people are terrible drivers, anyway! Is it too much to ask that people pull off and park, or at least stop, to have their conversations? I don’t have kids, but every time I see some beautiful little kid walking near the street where six out of 10 people are racing by talking on cell phones (I counted), I just think, “It’s a matter of time.” Don’t let us continue this terrible idea. Like Yul Brynner said: “Whatever you do - don’t smoke. Just don’t smoke.” Now how about we cut to the chase and say as early as possible: “Whatever you do, just don’t drive and talk on cell phones. Just don’t do it.” Just drive.

Name Withheld Athens

Name Withheld

Athens

Life Goes On

originally published August 23, 2006

“There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.” (Hermann Hesse)

 Robert Frost, when asked what he had found most interesting about life, responded, “It goes on.” Somewhat in the same manner bending the literal wit and will of the great master, life in Athens goes on as well. Reading of the new equitable distribution solution of granting HUD funds to the seemingly needy has become more tangled than Charlotte’s web. Seemingly now  a Pythagorean formula must be exercised, and solution achieved, to even be in the running for the celebrated  public funds which once fed the vestibules of common organizations, pleading nonprofit status and pledging to work for the good of the poorer brethren.

The cow with the golden teats turned out to be a bull, no one ever asked about offspring or sequences of on-site mating rituals. It all went hand in hand, between friends.

Only in the asking and prodding of management assessments and on higher-level officials did the pressure to perform prove eminent domain statutes have a relatively impressive punch when applied correctively. Some call this domain the public’s  right to know.

Nonetheless, the critical damage has already been done as millions, possibly 15 to 20, have already been written off and deposited in local accounts; there will be no penalty for early withdrawal, consider it all a gift on behalf of those living in abject poverty - they never knew the money was to assist their living conditions, and they never will.

Once again, we have learned the valuable lesson of repeated mistakes, that being there are only two mistakes one can make in life. The first is acting without thinking, and the second, thinking without acting.

Is it only in Athens-Clarke County we exceed the limit of repeating both?  How long will the poor remain the forgotten?

Keith T. Johnson Athens

Keith T. Johnson

Athens