Today is the 168th birthday of French post-Impressionist Henri Rousseau, whose vibrant portraits and dreamy jungle paintings make him a perfect candidate for today’s #MoreArtMonday.
Escape into the otherworldly courtesy of ART 24/7.
The Merry Jesters, 1906. Landscape, 1905-10. Young Girl in Pink, 1906-7. Landscape with Cattle, 1895-1900. Village Street, 1909-10. Carnival Evening, 1886. Still Life with Flowers, c. 1905.
Takeshi Miyakawa led installation pieces in New York…
I was talking with my mom this morning about this before I even saw what the piece. This is what she said it was:
Artist in jail in NYC for putting fake bombs in I love new york bags around the city. Now he is being held for 30 days for psychological evaluation. he said he did it because he loves New York. That brings “…you have a funny way of showing it” to a whole new level.
-Mamma Hyde Text
Then we went on to talk about how it was justifiable for the art world to go to his immediate aid because we have to defend our own even if we don’t support his art. And I was saying how it must be a comment on the culture of fear we have lived in since 9/11.
HOWEVER I GET TO WORK AND SEE THIS IS WHAT IT WAS? Not a bomb. A light installation. I’m glad that someone who was fearful about the piece knew what to do to report something “suspicious”. But now Mr. Miyakawa is in a 30 day psychological hold for something that was definitely not a bomb, representing a bomb or really looking like a bomb?
Mr. Miyakawa was charged with reckless endangerment and placing “a false bomb or hazardous substance,” among other charges. He was arraigned in court in Brooklyn on Sunday morning, his lawyer, Deborah J. Blum, said.
I just think that’s too far. A 5150 is only 72 hours and there was definitely no malcontent. I don’t think it helps that the NY Times article compares this to another artist public work that was meant to provoke and simulate a bomb:
He is hardly the first person whose art aroused the suspicions of passers-by. In 2006, for instance, two students from Pratt Institute were arrested after the police said they filled a cardboard tube and several bags with newspapers and left them on the subway.
One of the students, Robert Barrett, told the police at the time of his arrest that he had hoped to highlight what he considered the ineffectiveness of the “if you see something, say something” campaign.
I’m sorry, I feel like this is EXTREMELY irresponsible journalism, the last sentence of the article is leading the reader to believe that the two public works are connected when they aren’t even in the least. One happened by high school aged “artists” who expressed explicitly that they were dissasitsfied with the “if you see something say something” campaign and Miyakama wanted to express how beautiful NY is to him and how much he cares about the city.
I just feel like this whole situation could have been a NON situation by having the police contact him when they realized it wasn’t even close to a bomb, and just the led box, and said that this was a bad idea you should take them down, we don’t want to cause a panic and waste NY City resources tracking down these pieces that are scaring unknowing pedestrians. Too optimistic of me?
