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Buzzsaw
Citizen
Username: Buzzsaw
Post Number: 4745
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 7:16 pm: | 
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Librarylady, it could be art. Kind of a soy bomb art.
Are you talking about this website?
art is in the execution.
say if you were to hack a site and shut it down, not very good art
if you were to dismantle a site letter by letter and send it back to the webmaster in a nifty and somewhat relevant package, with a thought out statement. Could be art.
As a "creative professional" I think the flower gun has already been done and the underlying message could have been broadcasted more effectively and with more class. But that's just me. Personally I feel the flowergun is more masturbation than art. Does more for the artist than the public it seems to me. And it is a public space. I think the public should be able to respond.
Now if this was on the artists lawn, more power to this person. go for it!
If I were Mr. Flower Gun and someone took some creative steps to send me a message about my message. I'd be happy I got a reaction.
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Buzzsaw
Citizen
Username: Buzzsaw
Post Number: 4746
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 7:45 pm: |
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now that I think of it, if the public reacted to art in public spaces by adding their own artistic reaction - it could be anarchy.
but, maybe the public needs something to stir up the old brain pudding anyway.
maybe this kind of reaction is what the artist was looking for.
I think I've come full circle. Except for the part about not really liking the flower gun.
in the end, art will always take a back seat to American Idol (tm).
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Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9451
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 8:57 pm: |
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I'm going to grow real grass around the gun until it's invisible.
Try to stop me. |
Buzzsaw
Citizen
Username: Buzzsaw
Post Number: 4748
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 9:28 pm: |
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that's art garfunkel |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5078
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:28 am: |
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Dave-
People have considered taking it down but there is one small problem. They would be arrested. Not because the police want the gun there, because believe me they do not. I don't understand why there should be a problem puting a big banner up as well saying 'Support Our Troops!' Hey, it also send a message! Or put a big red 'X' through the gun which at least let people know the thing is supposed to be saying something 'anti gun.' I'd like to know why Andy is ignoring those who have been calling and complaining? What gives the PG the right or power, as it seems Andy is afraid of them, to dictate what can be put in the park?
For anyone thinking of removing it, consider yourself warned thee is someone watching the thing almost 24 hours a day. I wonder who pays them? And as someone asked before, does the PG pay rent to use the space at the Community Center? Are they paying to take up the space on the hill? And I thought the G was about LOCAL artists?
Nancy, since you're all for this piece of 'art,' can we move it to the library? Why does it have to be on Floods Hill, can't we move it to Grove Park? Or what about in the reservation by the look out?
I've put a call into the artist to inquire if they are aware of the number of people who do not want this on the hill. I'll let you all know what I learn. |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5079
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:35 am: |
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Nancy-
The website comparison is ridiculous. First off, if you don't agree with a website you happen to stumble across you just don't have to visit it again.
There is a big difference between that and having the display on the hill shoved down the throats of many children who play on any number of sports teams and those who watch them play. Not to mention the children walking to the Middle School, or those who live on Meadowbrook, or those who drive past there every day.
Mid July is way too long for that to remain on the hill. Children can't even draw guns in school or play cops and robbers because of the 'Zero Tolerance' rules. That alone should be reason enough for this to be on display inside the PG. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3163
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:20 am: |
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I haven't seen the artwork. It is in the middle of the hill? Isn't that part of the park when people play? Are the flowers something kids could trip over if they were playing on the hill? Is it somehow cordoned off so that no one can use that space? |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5084
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:26 am: |
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Hmmm you just gave me an idea Rastro!!! Thanks!
No, it is not cornered off. It is on the hill, but the lower part. Kids don't actually play organized by the town team sports in that 'exact part,' but someone could trip when they are walking down the hill! |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1610
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 9:47 am: |
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It's nice to see the grass on Flood's Hill is doing what none of us could- erasing the "project".
I was rethinking this whole thing and decided that the gun is actually an homage to writer/ director Quentin Tarantino. This came to me as I remembered Samuel L. Jackson's riveting performance as an illegal arms dealer in "Jackie Brown", where he said:
"Here it is, the AK-47, the King of all guns. It's for when you absolutely, positively have to kill every mother f***er in the room". |
MHD
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 4150
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 9:58 am: |
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How long before someone else complains about the unmowed lawn?  |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5230
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 1:53 pm: |
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MHD
Please don't give anybody any ideas!!! 
I've heard from one of the kids people have been stomping on the plastic flowers as well. At least we won't have to look at it much longer. I bet it's a pain in the neck for the poor guy who has to mow around that thing. |
jayjay
Citizen
Username: Jayjayp
Post Number: 671
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 4:27 pm: |
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The lack of thought that went into this so-called artistic installation is incredible. First, you have an undoubtedly controversial subject (the Iraq war), manifested with a biased piece of "art" (anti-war), rendered in a tacky form (plastic flowers), in the shape of a insensitive object (machine gun), installed in a place utilized for recreational purposes (a park), without regard to the maintenance (growing grass). And we are supposed to take the Gallery and Rec Dept people who make these decisions seriously. I don't think that is what I want my tax dollars going for. This was a serious error in judgement on their part.
The gallery mission (whatever it is needs to be stated or re-stated publically), and its budget requires serious scrutiny. And if our BOT is unwilling to do so, then we, the public, must make even more noise about it.
This is not anti-art as those in charge would like us to be characterized. It is about responsible government. |
vermontgolfer
Supporter
Username: Vermontgolfer
Post Number: 448
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, June 3, 2006 - 12:36 am: |
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Jay-Jay,
Be careful, they may want to start on a second TAU!
Great post and well said! Kudos! |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23227
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, June 3, 2006 - 12:57 am: |
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Did you see Red_Alert's thread on the Inspector General's Office that provides their contact information?
/discus/messages/3133/116432.html?1149264013
Next time you feel the urge to post, write a 4-5 sentence letter instead. Copy the addresses from the internet, stick a self-adhesive stamp on it and leave it on the counter at Starbucks. Someone will take it to a mailbox and the OIG will have heard from another actual citizen of this town who is concerned.
I will even provide secretarial services, paper and envelopes, and postage (to a limit - let's say $500). Anyone else up for the challenge? |
SO Ref
Citizen
Username: So_refugee
Post Number: 1863
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, June 3, 2006 - 9:25 am: |
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If you think about it, the growing grass may have been taken into account by the artist:
- as a cover-up
or, that
- no matter how much you try to ignore the point, it's still lies there underneath...
Just a thought... |
MHD
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 4154
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, June 3, 2006 - 9:36 am: |
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bets,
What does Starbucks have to do with it? Don't people still bring mail to the Post Office?
Then again, why bother with postage, when you can use email? Anyone can setup an anonymous email address with Yahoo, Gmail etc. |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23251
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, June 3, 2006 - 2:12 pm: |
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The Starbucks reference was a nod to former trustee Steve Steglitz's comment about limiting our purchases there to enable us to afford a tax increase. Sorry for the clumsiness. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3299
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 10:18 pm: |
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MHD, I doubt an anonymous email will have the same impact as a signed letter from a proven resident with a real name and address. As much as I'm in favor of electronic media, sometimes an old-fashioned letter works best. |
talk-it-up
Citizen
Username: Talkitup
Post Number: 234
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 12:01 am: |
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Oh gee!
Someone touched the gun - the grass has been cut for all to see South Orange's weapon of preference -
do all of you want to keep writing on here or do you want to go to the next Trustees Meeting instead?
It is very simple - the gun should go away. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9853
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Monday, June 12, 2006 - 10:52 am: |
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The gun looked in disarray yesterday like it was put through a shredder. |
Hillsider
Supporter
Username: Hillsider
Post Number: 71
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Monday, June 12, 2006 - 2:11 pm: |
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Now, that is vandalism... |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5358
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 13, 2006 - 2:42 am: |
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My sister says the garbage on the hill was messed up last Thursday... I don't know. I didn't notice when I drove by Saturday. |
Brett Weir
Citizen
Username: Brett_weir
Post Number: 1635
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 13, 2006 - 9:31 am: |
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It's completely obliterated...what a pity! There's always a bigger, faster gun out there...
Now it looks like a tribute to the Lone Star State- the faint outline of the AK-47 is filled in with faded grass that makes it look like the State of Texas.
(...a little ironic, n'est pas?) |
MHD
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 4368
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, July 6, 2006 - 11:42 am: |
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The following article is posted online & I guess it appears in today's News Record (though I thought this was old news).
Art in the park falls victim to vandals
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer Wednesday, July 5, 2006 10:50 PM EDT
Photo By Barbara Kokkalis - This outline of a semi-automatic assault rifle, the AK-47, which was displayed on Flood’s Hill this spring, was vandalized one day before the art was to be dismantled from the South Orange park.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ - A piece of modern art on Floods Hill, intended to be a statement against the Iraq War, was vandalized last month, according to the village.
One or more vandals ripped out the plastic flowers that had formed an outline resembling a semi-automatic assault rifle, the AK-47, on the South Orange hillside. Officials think the vandalism occurred sometime late in the evening of June 9 or early in the morning of June 10.
“We will be greeted with flowers” was meant to be a commentary on the Bush administration’s posture before the Iraq War, “bringing to mind the idea of a public memorial or a peaceful protest,” according to the Web site of New York artist Carlo Vialu.
The piece went up April 29 as part of an exhibit at the Pierro Gallery, the village’s art gallery.
But on June 10, officials discovered the flowers had been pulled out and left strewn.
“I think it’s a shame,” said village President William R. Calabrese.
The timing came a day before the display was due to come down, said Andrew Brady, director of recreation and cultural affairs.
Originally, the village intended to leave the piece up until the middle of July. But they agreed to take it down sooner than first thought.
Brady said no other public art display had been vandalized before. He said the incident left “a bad feeling.”
Neither Vialu nor Police Chief James M. Chelel could be reached for comment Monday.
Village officials had defended the art in the face of criticism that it did not belong in a public place. They had said they did not want to get into the business of censorship.
Janet Skrobe, a South Orange resident, first raised the issue at a Board of Trustees’ meeting in May.
“It was not a pleasant image for a public park,” she said, noting, “You don’t have a decision on whether you see that or not.”
During the May meeting, Skrobe, a mother, said the artwork sent children a mixed message. She said kids would get in trouble at school if they expressed themselves by drawing a gun or even pretending to shoot a gun with their fingers.
She said village officials should use better judgment in deciding what art to display in a public setting.
At that meeting, Calabrese told Skrobe he found nothing offensive about the piece. He said it reminded him of the “love, not guns” message of the 1960s and ‘70s.
However, he did say, “What’s out in public display should be a little bit more clearly reviewed.”
Last week, Skrobe said trustees had an obligation to get involved in deciding what art gets displayed in public.
“They are accountable,” she said.
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Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 10048
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, July 6, 2006 - 11:48 am: |
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MINOR FACT CHECK
There's nothing "semi" about the AK-47s being used in Iraq and Afghanistan. |
MHD
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 4369
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, July 6, 2006 - 12:08 pm: |
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Quote:Calabrese told Skrobe he found nothing offensive about the piece. He said it reminded him of the “love, not guns” message of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Aha....that explains everything. Calabrese probably also find nothing offensive about the dilapidated Shop Rite building and empty Beifus/Sayid/Vose Ave lots - they there to simply remind him of the Newark riots of the 1960s. I get it now.  |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5592
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, July 6, 2006 - 11:33 pm: |
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Get real. does anyone really believe this?
>>>"The timing came a day before the display was due to come down, said Andrew Brady, director of recreation and cultural affairs."<<<
There is no way I believe this was going to happen! Even better, if they thought this thing was going to last until mid July I have a bridge to sell them. It would have been torn to shreds the night of the fireworks.
Anyone else hear the story Andy and the BOT were very glad this happened? This way they get to save face and the thing is gone.  |
talk-it-up
Citizen
Username: Talkitup
Post Number: 252
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 7, 2006 - 7:36 pm: |
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There is no way for them to save face. This I just another example of the bad judgement by the Board of Trustees. They should have taken action. You cannot stand behind Art and Freedom of speech as an answer. There should have been consideration, an apology to the community, and immediate removal of the offensive object. (I really think that they took no action because they were afraid that their directions would not have been carried out.)
This has meaning because it is on a very small scale another example of mismanagement. We can create art (?) but so many projects undone.... |
SO Ref
Citizen
Username: So_refugee
Post Number: 1959
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Friday, July 7, 2006 - 10:01 pm: |
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I'm sure you also think that the BoT is responsible for the attacks on the WTC...is there anything that cannot be pinned on them? OK, you don't agree with the artwork. Art is subjective and does not always appeal to everyone. Pick a new topic... |
joel dranove
Citizen
Username: Jdranove
Post Number: 669
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, July 8, 2006 - 12:19 pm: |
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Marburg virus isn't their creation.
jd |
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