Musica Roundabout

[aunaturelone]

Check out some very public nude art on a massive scale:

Music Row Roundabout

And the reaction to it.

[aunaturelone]

Check out some very public nude art on a massive scale:

Music Row Roundabout

And the reaction to it.

[Macanudist]

That is probably one of the best pieces of large public art I've ever seen that unabashedly celebrates human movement and music. The figures are larger than life and seem to literally fly in delight. The fact that the figures are nude is only natural. I applaud the artist for his vision and talent and for the folks in Wyoming who allowed this work to come to life. Sadly, I wonder how long it will be until a public official finds some offense and insists on draping the art in some ungodly fabric...

"I wonder how long it will be until a public official finds some offense and insists on draping the art in some ungodly fabric..."

Very soon I hope. This stuff is just ugly. They put a naked statue in my town in the late 1970s and it was so badly vandalised in the first few days after its unveiling that they had to remove it - permanently [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] . Public art should be the sort of stuff the public (you know, the ones who pay for it and have to live with it) enjoy.

Stu

I wonder how long it will be before some dirty minded people who think nudity is offensive and obscene have it removed or clothed?

[aunaturelone]

Something like the roundabout is going to be very tough to cover up. My understanding is that local people are mostly supportive and only a small minority objects. It would become a cause celeb should someone try to dress it; a real battle to protect it would ensue.

Of course small, fanatical minorities who are very important it to a ruling coalition often wield power vastly greater than their size would otherwise justify. This only works when the general public is apathetic and I don't think the public will be apathetic on this.

"I wonder how long it will be before some dirty minded people who think nudity is offensive and obscene have it removed or clothed?"

Do only dirty minded people think nudity is offensive? [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]

Stu

[namedun]

I wouldn't say sex is nessecarily dirty, but yes, only people who equate sex to nudity, and are in addition offended by sexuality in public, are offended by nudity.

Namedun [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[owl tn]

quote:

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Originally posted by Macanudist:
[qb] That is probably one of the best pieces of large public art I've ever seen that unabashedly celebrates human movement and music. The figures are larger than life and seem to literally fly in delight. The fact that the figures are nude is only natural. I applaud the artist for his vision and talent and for the folks in Wyoming who allowed this work to come to life. Sadly, I wonder how long it will be until a public official finds some offense and insists on draping the art in some ungodly fabric... [/qb]

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Yes, I'm from Nashville, Wyoming. *smirk*

Nashville has often called itself "The Athens of the South", but that title is probably best deserved by Athens, GA (or even Athens, TN). In a town that prides itself in more than just country music, but also as a place of culture, I hope the statue stays. I don't think there will be any problems, unless, of course, John Ashcroft comes to give a speech here, and he chooses the roundabout. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

I said:

"Do only dirty minded people think nudity is offensive?"

namedun said:

"I wouldn't say sex is nessecarily dirty, but yes, only people who equate sex to nudity, and are in addition offended by sexuality in public, are offended by nudity."

What??????

Of course sex is dirty. Well it is if it's done right [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif[/img] ! And then you say that the only people who are offended by nudity are those that 1. equate sex to nudity and 2. are offended by sexuality in public. That is very confusing. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]

Firstly, I have never met anyone who equates nudity with sex. You can be nude without having sex (most of us are when taking a shower etc). Second, you can have sex without being nude (I have never had sex nude).

Secondly, what the heck do you mean by "offended by sexuality in public"? A person's sexuality usually refers to whether they are straight or homosexual. What has that got to do with nudity?

Stu

What I meant by "dirty minded people" are people who can't see a nude body without thinking it is offensise or obscene. They look at a nude statue and are offended by it instead of seeing art, and they insist that it be covered or removed. That was what I meant.

[NudeAl]

I think this is great!!

I hope it reverses the recent trend to cover up our beautiful nude statues.

I wonder, Stu, what does that say in your mind about the classical nude down through the ages in art?

It is my understanding that no other image down through the ages has been so often reproduced. It seems we have an ageless facination with the human anatomy. I guess we all have a lot of dirty minded ancestors. I prefer to think it is just natural and that it is timeless and I dislike the idea that it is some form of pornography.

The human form is, was, and always will be a object for art.

The reason the nude human body has been used so much in art down through the centuries, and has been so popular with so many people, is because it is beautiful. Different people find different body shapes beautiful to them (beauty is in the eye of the beholder). I have a brother who always preferred fat girls. It's good that some people do. Just as some women actually like fat guys. I met a very homely woman once whose husband was extremely good looking. I had an aunt who was very good looking and married a very homely man. Who knows what attracts one person to another? It's not always looks. However, the human body unclothed has been a favorite for artists of all kinds since time began. If it wasn't so popular, we wouldn't have so much nude art.

Al

I really don't care whether nudes are classical or contemporary. I think the human body is a pretty unsightly thing at best. I was once told by an artistic friend of mine that a lot of nude art is done to give the artist practice in portraying the human shape generall - clothed or otherwise.

With regard to the statues that aunaturelone mentioned - I fail to see why the artist couldn't have portrayed them in swimsuits or bikinis. After all, that's what people generally DO wear when frollicking about. Nude frolicking is the exception, not the rule.

Stu

quote:

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Originally posted by stu2630:
[qb] Al

With regard to the statues that aunaturelone mentioned - I fail to see why the artist couldn't have portrayed them in swimsuits or bikinis. After all, that's what people generally DO wear when frollicking about. Nude frolicking is the exception, not the rule.

Stu [/qb]

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Maybe because not everyone considers the human body to be "unsightly at best". Not everyone thinks the human body is ugly and should be kept hidden at all times despite what you want to believe.