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| Hirst Hurts |
Armstrong and Hirst are in the news as cyborg cyclist and butterfly
basher...
Alva: Same old story. Up and
down. One day it’s clapping and celebrating then next day there’s a crucifixion.
Lance Armstrong and Damien Hirst. Both.
Michael: Lance? Yes. There’s
a place for him. In the future cyborg world, of cloning, regenerative tissues
and erasable memories, Lance Armstrong will be the norm.
Alva: But as for Damien Hirst
killing 9,000 butterflies and calling it “art”? That one is an extreme case of
Oscar Wilde’s “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about
and that is not being talked about.”
Michael: Both will destroy
the world as we know it.
Alva: The Tour de France will
be an event where medical teams compete to win with cyborgs on steroids.
Michael: And if we applaud
performances like Hirst’s the cyborgs will be cycling through a world of dying
butterflies and slain cows.
_________
Voice-over
Performance and ego in the
coming cyborg world.
There is an asymmetry in
vilification here.
The applause that accompanies
the crucifixion of Armstrong.
The outrage that accompanies
the Hirst exhibition.
Armstrong could be simply
ahead of his time. Get over cancer. Use tools. Get to the top. Independence
Day. Survive. And start a charity.
Hirst milks the media to feed
his ego. Massacre 9,000 butterflies? “Art is anything you can get away with.”
In 2050 Armstrong might be
accepted by some people for using meds to go a little further.
In 2050 Hirst might still be mocked.
Dead butterflies and cow carcases out on the street will never be “art.”
Link to
A cry
from the study…
Sanagi: So intervention
worked.
Elizabeth: I brought them indoors to feed and
turn into chrysalises. To protect them from the wasps. Was I being
interventionist?
Mary: Or the peace. Or for ideological reasons.
Preserve democracy sometimes.
