4/30/2003: Statue of discarded army boots

Undertoad · 04-30-2003, 10:49 AM

From LGF comes this, which one can look at on many different levels.

An official caption: A creation by Iraqi artist Zerak Mera made from Iraqi army boots is seen where a statue of toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein once stood, in the center of Kirkuk, April 29, 2003.

To start, by now we all know that in Iraqi culture, hitting something with the sole of your shoe is a mark of disrespect. So this probably has something to do with all those boots becoming the medium for this art.

I was immediately reminded of the Watts Towers. For years and years, from the 20s through the 50s, Watts resident Simon Rodia collected trash (basically) and welded it together with his own homemade mortar to create 100-foot-tall towers: literally recycling garbage into art.

So as this is the same sort of thing, we might wonder whether Mera wrote "statue of cleaning" to mean cleaning the country of the regime, or cleaning the area of discarded boots... or both, which would be the strongest artistic statement. And we might wonder what Mera's take on the army is, as well.

Or maybe he was just trying to be funny. In any case, it's very nice indeed to see a creative and ironic take from the Iraqis. As LGF said in reaction, it makes one feel they're going to be just fine.

floki · 04-30-2003, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Undertoad
I was immediately reminded of the Watts Towers. For years and years, from the 20s through the 50s, Watts resident Simon Rodia collected trash (basically) and welded it together with his own homemade mortar to create 100-foot-tall towers: literally recycling garbage into art.

Here is a picture gallery featuring the Watts Tower. The colorful "tiles" remind me of the architectural works of the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

xoxoxoBruce · 04-30-2003, 04:28 PM

Freedom manifests itself in wondrous ways!

We had freedom in the USA when Rodia built his towers. Today the various government agencies and litigious lawyers not to mention the insurance industry wouldn't let him get past the corner stone.

04-30-2003, 10:49 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	4/30/2003: Statue of discarded army boots From LGF comes this, which one can look at on many different levels. An official caption: A creation by Iraqi artist Zerak Mera made from Iraqi army boots is seen where a statue of toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein once stood, in the center of Kirkuk, April 29, 2003. To start, by now we all know that in Iraqi culture, hitting something with the sole of your shoe is a mark of disrespect. So this probably has something to do with all those boots becoming the medium for this art. I was immediately reminded of the Watts Towers. For years and years, from the 20s through the 50s, Watts resident Simon Rodia collected trash (basically) and welded it together with his own homemade mortar to create 100-foot-tall towers: literally recycling garbage into art. So as this is the same sort of thing, we might wonder whether Mera wrote "statue of cleaning" to mean cleaning the country of the regime, or cleaning the area of discarded boots... or both, which would be the strongest artistic statement. And we might wonder what Mera's take on the army is, as well. Or maybe he was just trying to be funny. In any case, it's very nice indeed to see a creative and ironic take from the Iraqis. As LGF said in reaction, it makes one feel they're going to be just fine.

04-30-2003, 04:28 PM	#3
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Freedom manifests itself in wondrous ways! We had freedom in the USA when Rodia built his towers. Today the various government agencies and litigious lawyers not to mention the insurance industry wouldn't let him get past the corner stone. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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