Young Professionals Making A Difference In The World
What is becoming of Art?
I'll be honest i hate art. I am the furthest thing from an artist and in our day and age it has become so vague that any person with a crazy idea can make "art". Enter Michael Heizer!
For those that have not heard, this "artist's" latest project was the "Levitating Mass" where he mounted a 340 ton boulder on walls to make it look like it is floating. The idea sounds great and could be a sight that attracts a lot of tourists but it was the process of building this "Levitating Mass" that has attracted more attention. Instead of finding a boulder close by to the museum, the "artist" was adamant on this specific boulder. Here is a brief explanation of how the boulder was moved:
"The boulder was originally scheduled for transport in August 2011. Due to the difficulty in securing permits for the journey, the trip was repeatedly delayed, with the boulder finally leaving the quarry at the end of February 2012. The rock was loaded onto a 295-foot long, 196-wheeled transporter custom-built by Emmert International. Because of the transporter's size and needs, the boulder could only be moved at night at a maximum speed of about seven miles per hour. Though the quarry is located fewer than 60 miles from the LACMA campus, a circuitous 107-mile route traversing 22 cities in 4 counties was taken in order to avoid busier roads or overpasses that could not support the combined weight of the boulder and transporter. A few trees were cut down, cars towed and traffic lights temporarily removed in order to facilitate the transporter's movement."
That is a lot of trouble to go through just to move a boulder. That's not even the worst part. What has shocked a lot of people was the cost of this project. It was funded entirely by private donations to a total of $10 million!! It's stupid wasteful acts like this that makes America the laughing stock of the world. When there are people starving, have no shelter, no jobs and are facing hard times (In America), how is spending $10 million on this a good idea?
Comment
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Comment by Christine Wu on October 12, 2012 at 10:31am -
Love art. Don't care about sports. But I agree there is way too much waste in general. So what do we do about it?
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Comment by Zane Whitman on October 11, 2012 at 5:00pm -
Okay, okay @Madison...you've made your point. Art is good. Now let's get that NHL back to work! Lockout talks have hit a wall again.
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Comment by Madison Hart on October 11, 2012 at 4:47pm -
Here is a 2012 list of the top 10 paid athletes from Goal.com. Imagine all the good these guys could do if they pooled their money and gave it to charity!
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Comment by Madison Hart on October 11, 2012 at 4:42pm
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So I've been trying hard to come up with a compelling argument in defense of this exhibit, Fahd, and I'll give you that the $10 million dollar transportation price tag is a big negative.
My first thought was all the priceless works of art that are bought and sold for personal enjoyment (ahhhh....selfish bastards!) So how could an art museum be worse? At least they share the work with paying customers. Then a light went off. If there are paying customers, then this exhibit is really a business venture. Following me? I guess if Michael Heizer was selfish like many art collectors around the world, then we could push it off to greedy people simply wasting money when others are in need, but because this is a privately funded art exhibition that is intended for profit...we can't use the same metrics.
So then I began comparing this exhibit to that of sports and athletes! I think you get where I'm going with this...specifically the ridiculous million dollar contracts that go to men playing ball games. Ummm...like say David Beckham with his 46 million dollar contract...or Tom Brady with his 78.5 million dollar contract...or Kobe Bryant with his 52.3 million dollar contract. I don't see these guys foregoing their "business income" in lieu of all the suffering Americans. And why not? Their jobs seems easier, in theory, than moving a 340 ton boulder over 22 miles.
Perhaps we can both agree that business, whether in art or sports, is a big waste of money when so many people are suffering. But I guess we could pile a ton of other business ventures on that list too like music, movies, technology, etc. Business is business. And it shouldn't be confused with philanthropy.
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