SA artist Brett Murray goes viral via picking a lolfight with the ANC.
Published23 May 2012
This situation with artist Brett Murray and Jacob Zuma’s speculative man-part reminds me of the boggart from the third Harry Potter book. In Professor Lupin’s ‘Defence of the Dark Arts’ class Harry & Co learn to defeat the boggart – a creature that takes on the form of one of your fears. The only way to defeat the boggart is by finding a way to laugh at (your fears) while saying the Riddikulus spell. Brett Murray’s speculative depiction of the presidential man-part seems to me a bit like that. Not that JZ is a boggart. But his sex life swag kind of is. It’s therapeutic to laugh at it. In a word… PINNED!
I would imagine that the Riddikulus spell will also work quite effectively against the ANC attempts to stop the painting from being sold via using lawyers. 101 in art appreciation here – you can’t take art personally. Artists may be extremely irritating for all the truth that they just spew with no regard for political correctness (how dare they), but they are also the only people who keep us from slipping into moral decrepitude. As annoying as they are, you kind of have to just let them cut their hair funny, drink too much and exercise their poetic licence via saying inappropriate but insightful things. Murray is just posing an idea. I mean, it’s not as if JZ posed for that picture. It’s not some sneaky mobile phone porn snap hack. It’s not REALLY his penis. It’s just an IDEA. Are we actually having this conversation?
Here’s a quote that seems appropriate:
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Aristotle
I have but admiration for Bretty Murray, who has manipulated the government into spreading his ideas for him. Behold, an artist / PR Genius:
Behold, a whole bunch of articles detailing the ANC’s PR campaign for Brett Murray’s new ‘Hail to the Thief’ exhibition at the Goodman Gallery in Joburg. One can conclude then, that the best way to go viral in SA is STILL to pick a fight with the ANC.