ANOTHER EXAMPLE of HAMMER MUSEUM OFFENSIVENESS

[Another example: verbatim,speaks for itself]
"Calendar - Hammer Museum:
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
FLASH TALK: RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA'S
UNTITLED 2014 (UP AGAINST THE WALL
MOTHER FUCKER)
12:30PM
Tours_219
HAMMER LECTURES"
http://hammer.ucla.edu/calendar/calendar

WELCOME !

WELCOME! ive been visiting the hammer museum for many years now...and have seen many of the various exhibits come & go...and of course hammer museum always wants to try to be as "alternative" & risque as possible most of the time...seeming to go out of their way to offend or challenge traditional sensibilities. Sometimes the quirkyness is cute or unique and even seems to have some redeeming qualities. Other times it is SO far "out there" it is beyond art, and seems to be solely to offend  traditional values & simply say "So there, what are you going to do about it ?" to put it nicely. Sometimes I wonder what Hammer himself would think about the way the Hammer has turned ? On the other hand there are other things that are nice about the hammer. They have various free screenings of films, and other for a small fee, often with personal appearances by various filmmakers, et al. And then there are poetry readings as well as some unique Hammer presentations 

that are not necessarily intended to offend. 

I am starting this blog on May 5, 2014 so that I can "talk back" . Too often I go thru the Hammer and feel offended and I leave ...and I realize that somebody at the Hammer may have an ulterior motive..namely to make those of us with traditional values feel HELPLESS. They want us to walk away thinking, "I don't like it but there's nothing I can do about it." Well, that's not necessarily true. I have written letters re previous exhibits that were too meaningless and even seemed to be simply nothing more than pornography ( & no I don't think any and all nude art is pornography, in fact I value good, artistic, art about the human body, but any person with a conscience will know the difference instinctively between art versus pornography. I won't go into the differences here. ) 

And so we can write. We can blog. We can go online. And we can refuse to go. For that matter, there is no longer an admission fee so whether we go or not it apparently will NOT affect their budget. They probably have an ample endowment which allows them to do pretty much whatever they want. However, they DO seem to still be interested in #'s. At first when they started allowing free admission any day of the week you didn't need a sticker. But now they have reinstituted the sticker program (need to ask the bookstore employee for a sticker upon arrival) apparently so they know how many people are coming. Thus, low #'s & letters of disapproval may make a difference in the art they display. 

Last week I walked thru the gallery and one of the exhibits was of a nude, African-American man...with photos of his genitalia all over the walls. I didn't see anything artistic about it at all, and it has nothing to do with race or gender. Sure, if I must look at nudity on display I would prefer female, but even if it were female genitalia all over the wall in a similar manner I wouldn't consider it art and wouldn't be interested in staring at it. For that matter, they have a video of a woman giving a speech during which this woman gradually dis-clothes herself and at a certain point is making a public speech in the nude. This may be making more of a political statement I suppose, but again, if the Hammer museum does TOO much blatant nudity it fails to make any real meaningful statement and loses it's value other than shock value. 

One thing I noticed to my pleasure, however, is they finally REMOVED the gigantic sign that said "STOP WHITE SUPERIORITY" or something of that sort. It seemed to be a sign from the 60's and had been hanging there for so long...as a permanent exhibit in the hallway..and finally they realized it was well past time for it to come down. That's a positive sign that somebody is alive in the administration. But are they alive enough ? We shall see what happens in the future. Now I have a place to TALK BACK and not feel helpless. Join me ! 
*****

Jesus said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."  

John 10:28-30