WTF Art

Today, I'd like to share with you a little sample of all the WTF art I've encountered lately. WTF Art (Weird or Terrifying Fine Art) is everywhere -- from confrontational pieces in chic galleries to statuesque statues* in stately museums. Wherever installed, this type of art is forever making viewers stand back and say, "WTF?"

1) Piece: Greek/Roman statuette of a man gutting what may be a cow.

Place: the Louvre

While it no doubt took some ancient dead guy great artistic skill to carve out this little slice of life, who thought it was a slice of life that needed to be preserved for all of eternity, forever making museum goers throw up a little in their mouths?

2) Piece: Les Vitraux des Innocents by Sarkis

Place: Centre Pompidou

What you're looking at is an Orc action figure (from Lord of the Rings) that Sarkis photographed in his studio and then transferred to stained glass, elevating this 6th-grade craft project to Art by titling it something vaguely sounding like it came from the Bible.

The informative plaque placed next to the piece sheds some light on it's brilliance:

Behind the explicit violence of this bloodbath is the paradoxical question of who the innocents actually are. Are they the one in the Vitrine being attacked by the warriors? Are the Orcs of the Vitrine transfigured by the stained-glass panel? Does the warrior become a saint? Are they transformed into innocents by the stained glass?

Is Sarkis out of his freaking mind?

Excuse me while I go arrange headless barbies in shadow boxes in the name of Art.*

3) Piece: Nude Study of Balzac, by Rodin

Place: Musée Rodin

How often does one see the study of a fat man? And a supremely smug one at that? Enter Honoré Balzac, muse to Rodin. I'm loving the haughty lift of the chin, the smartly crossed arms, the tastefully obscured man parts (or perhaps they are just hidden by the overhanging belly). Balzac gazes down at the viewer from his perch on the pedestal, and it's like he's saying, "Why yes, I broke new literary ground with what are now considered timeless masterpieces and because of it, my hefty form was sculpted by the hands of the undisputed master of modern sculpture. What have you done today?"

Mocked you in my blog, Balzac. So take that.

*I wouldn't describe a statue any other way.

* I shall call it: Walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Get it? Cause it's a shadow box.