Briareos H on 26/3/2024 at 15:35
Quote Posted by Starker
It is perfectly valid to discuss old works according to our current understanding of them. It's not like we have to (or necessarily can, even) descend into a medieval mindset every time we discuss Chaucer.
It's 100% valid but it just strikes me as a judgemental and condescending thing to do when presenting older works in a museum setting. I'm pushing it a bit but it gives me the same vibe as something like "These cave paintings of large animals gathering around a watering hole show no sign of the brutal ritualistic treatment of nearby tribes that would become the genocidal norm, leading to the exctinction of the Neanderthals in the same geographical area". Not wrong but a bit insulting.
Azaran on 26/3/2024 at 16:39
Quote Posted by Briareos H
I'm pushing it a bit but it gives me the same vibe as something like "These cave paintings of large animals gathering around a watering hole show no sign of the brutal ritualistic treatment of nearby tribes that would become the genocidal norm, leading to the exctinction of the Neanderthals in the same geographical area". Not wrong but a bit insulting.
There must be a fallacy there somewhere...
The UK National Trust also made a big deal years ago of pointing out how old British country houses were build on(
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/national-trust-colonialism-slavery/index.html) oppression and slavery.
Yeah, you could say it's just adding more context, but considering the widespread vandalism of historical monuments that has occurred in recent years on that basis, it's equivalent to painting a target on the site or work of art.
(
https://news.sky.com/story/pro-palestine-protesters-target-lord-balfour-painting-at-trinity-college-in-cambridge-13090043) Case in point
Quote:
Politicians have condemned a "moronic act of vandalism" after pro-Palestine activists damaged a portrait of Lord Balfour.
Palestine Action shared a video on social media of a demonstrator defacing and slashing the historic painting, which hangs at the University of Cambridge's Trinity College.
In the clip, a woman can be seen spraying red paint before using a sharp object to slice open the canvas.
How long before one of these crusaders goes after landscape paintings?
And gets away with it
Nicker on 26/3/2024 at 18:26
Quote:
How long before one of these crusaders goes after landscape paintings?
And gets away with it
Why would they get away with it? What does that even mean? That they are not prevented from acting? That the art is not protected? That the vandals suffer no consequences?
Defacing art is not a new danger. If we stop exploring the truth because there is a possibility of vandalism, the "terrorists" win.
Of course some people will find offense in anything and others will over-react. That's a given. That doesn't mean we should never re-examine art or that there is something inherently offensive, invasive or restrictive in doing so.
Azaran on 26/3/2024 at 18:43
Quote Posted by Nicker
Why would they get away with it? What does that even mean? That they are not prevented from acting? That the art is not protected? That the vandals suffer no consequences?
The painting slasher above has gotten away with it so far. No arrests have been made yet. Despite the offender being there in full view
Nicker on 26/3/2024 at 19:13
That's a failure of law enforcement, not art criticism.
Starker on 26/3/2024 at 23:36
Quote Posted by Briareos H
It's 100% valid but it just strikes me as a judgemental and condescending thing to do when presenting older works in a museum setting. I'm pushing it a bit but it gives me the same vibe as something like "These cave paintings of large animals gathering around a watering hole show no sign of the brutal ritualistic treatment of nearby tribes that would become the genocidal norm, leading to the exctinction of the Neanderthals in the same geographical area". Not wrong but a bit insulting.
It is precisely a museum's job to be doing things like that. If you want to set up a rehang that focuses thematically on the effects of industrialisation and the social upheaval in the countryside, then it's perfectly ok to include landscape paintings in it, despite the painters themselves not necessarily having cared about or even having been aware of the changes that were occurring around them. A work being "old" does not give it special license from being excluded from a discussion, especially if it has been part of a much larger trend.
Cipheron on 6/4/2024 at 10:13
It seems like the amount of conspiracy theories generated for literally any newsworthy event is increasing. Taylor Swift and the Superbowl, the boat hitting the bridge in Baltimore, and now the Eclipse. All generated vasts amounts of mutually-exclusive conspiracy theories.
These things really shouldn't need fact-checkers:
(
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/apr/02/instagram-posts/no-nasa-doesnt-have-a-mission-to-cause-mass-psycho/)
Quote:
Three rockets NASA is launching during the April 8 solar eclipse is “a ritual causing mass psychosis.”
(
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/04/05/solar-eclipse-cern-portal/73216088007/)
Quote:
No, CERN won't open a portal during the April 8 eclipse. That'd be impossible | Fact check
...
USA TODAY has debunked other false eclipse claims, including assertions that the rockets NASA will launch during the event are part of a "sex magic ritual," that the eclipse is manufactured and that it will cause days of darkness.
(
https://www.wired.com/story/solar-eclipse-conspiracies/)
Quote:
Far-right conspiracy theorists are claiming that “elites” will use the eclipse to control humanity, sway the presidential election, and everything else under the sun.
...
On Telegram, one well-known conspiracy influencer known as the Health Ranger, who has 75,000 subscribers, wrote that the eclipse “sure would be the perfect cover story if our terrorist government wanted to take down the power grid and cause mass chaos while blocking all citizen communications. Kinda convenient if you want to declare martial law and unleash a dictatorship before Trump can win in November.”
...
Finally, many have linked the eclipse with the imminent sacrifice of red heifers in Israel, a practice that some Jews and evangelicals believe will variously herald the construction of a Third Temple in Jerusalem, the return of the messiah, or the end of the world.
...
Sovereign-citizen guru David Straight has also posited a wild conspiracy called Operation Balloon, claiming that the government, using the eclipse blackout as cover, will deploy balloons filled with poisonous gas. Straight didn't, however, explain why the government wouldn't just do this at night, when it's also dark and people are typically not staring at the sky.
Also if you start to poke into conspiracy Twitter, you start to get the even more out there ones. For example a claim going around is that NASA is trying to prevent a Mandela Effect style "timeline jump" that will apparently be triggered by the eclipse.
(
https://twitter.com/threadreaderapp/status/1776187099256885289)
Then you have the inevitable kookiness from conservative politicians:
(
https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greenes-solar-eclipse-theory-goes-viral-1887491)
Quote:
GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene says she believes Monday's total solar eclipse will be a sign from God, according to a viral tweet that's received 1.8 million page views.
"God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent," Greene wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. "Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens."
Which is a different type of insane, because the exact timing and location of eclipses has been predetermined for millions of years, regardless of what humans do or don't do.
(
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/solar-eclipse-conspiracy-theories-far-right-1234998475/)
Quote:
InfoWars host Alex Jones, who has spent the past few weeks ranting on X about the upcoming eclipse. Last week, he posted a clip with the caption: “Major Events Surrounding The April 8th Solar Eclipse[.] Masonic rituals planned worldwide to usher in New World Order.”
---
At least this one doesn't have the racism, though. For things like the Baltimore ship crash, one that's being going around blames "DEI" for that. So having black people and women holding jobs: cause of any accidents, crisis, natural disasters you might encounter.
DuatDweller on 6/4/2024 at 20:10
The biggest rituals to darker gods (unknown to me even their names) are major wars since WW1 sacrificing lives for ritualistic rulers ideas. Nothing more scary.
Nicker on 7/4/2024 at 00:09
Quote:
Which is a different type of insane, because the exact timing and location of eclipses has been predetermined for millions of years, regardless of what humans do or don't do.
But the difference this time is Jewish Space lasers.
Starker on 7/4/2024 at 09:59
This time, in the already well established genre of Musk sucks, there is a discussion about such philosophical conundrums such as whether the Nazis could have maybe possibly have been left wing somehow.
[video=youtube;xDyPSKLy5E4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDyPSKLy5E4[/video]
