Political capital is precious and must be spent wisely. Pastor Jospeh Fuiten of the Cedar Park Assembly of God Church in Bothell is the dominant evangelical Christian political force in Washington state and continues to lead a legitmate fight against legal efforts to overturn our state's Defense of Marriage Act. He also speaks compellingly to many other important values, such as family, faith and country. But he has erred in making an issue of a planned nude statue in Seattle, which shows a nude father (non-tumescent male organ visible) reaching across an expanse to his son, with a sporadic curtain of water further separating them. Today, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat seizes on Fuiten's description of the statue as "Seattle's monument to pedophiliac grooming," and writes the column that had to be written about Right-y wingnuts and that timeless Seattle meme: "art that gets people talking."
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This is a shame. Republicans are so much more than evangelicals, and the "other" Rs are pretty damned important. Evangelicals certainly helped propel George W. Bush's election to a second term as president, but they didn't quite turn the trick in Washington, did they? We're the minority in both chambers of the state legislature, and didn't have enough of a cushion against the distributed vote fraud which put a Democrat in the Governor's mansion. Judicious moderation on social issues (i.e., fight to preserve DOMA's intent, fight for parental notroification on abortion for minors) is required for Western Washington Republicans, including evangelicals. Interestingly, Fuiten seemed at one time to realize this himself, sort of. This is from a Seattle Weekly profile last fall.
Fuiten is savvy to political realities. He knows evangelicals are considered in some circles to be, well, the devil, and though resentful of the fact, Fuiten seems to yearn to get beyond that. Although he supported Craswell, he's not sure he would again. He brands her campaign as "too extreme." He feels the Christian right in general is too negative. "You can't just be against abortion and gays and expect to create a culture," he says. He has formed an ad hoc group dedicated to what he calls a "positive Christian agenda." Talking with Fuiten about the agenda, though, it's hard to discern where the differences lie between him and someone like Craswell. He is against abortion and homosexuality, both of which he classifies categorically as sin.
Evangelicals love to talk about principle. So do ultra-liberals. Both groups are too preoccupied with the politics of personal virtue. Pragmatism is important, too. Protesting the nude statue in Seattle won't in any way stop its installation, but makes all Republicans look like hard-line social conservative geeks. Big mistake. Let's pick our fights, and issues, better. And if we have to pick on Seattle statues, Pastor Fuiten, how about we stick to the one depicting the spiritual godfather of at least 65 million deaths perpetrated by communists in the 20th Century?
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at October 07, 2005 09:50 AM | Email ThisThe nudity of this statue is exactly the wrong thing to focus on anyway. The more symbolic aspect is that there is a man, reaching helplessly for his son, with a curtain of water being sprayed up between them.
The curtain of water is the state. There is policy after policy in the state of Washington and KC and Seattle in particular that are designed to remove the role of fathers from their families.
For those of you who are not aware of how dire the situation is, you should do some research into the topic.
Posted by: BananaLand (aka Iguana) on October 7, 2005 10:53 AMA waterfront statue of a nude male could be a thing of great beauty, say something in classical marble (ala Michaelangelo)or a verdigris Posidon (even keeps the water theme). I know this is Seattle, but why are we stuck with an ugly and controversial stuatue, when we could have a classy and beautiful one? If the powers-that-be were to choose classy and beautiful, people might actually take their children to see it; as it stands most will avoid the ugly thing, I know I will.
As usual, people with a different point of view are being labled in the MSM as right wing nuts, bigots, and narrow minded. But the fact is this is not art, it's just plain ugly. Seattle will be lucky if the garbage collectors don't accidentally carry it away.
Posted by: dl on October 7, 2005 11:04 AMIt obviously ISN'T any big deal that Danny Westneat showers or bathes with his 3-yr-old. But does he go outside naked with his naked kid and longingly outstretch his arms in public to try and make some point? No. Some things we just don't wanna see in public. Get the drift? And don't give me the old "Well gee, the David statue in Italy is of a very naked guy and nobody cares about THAT~!"
Well, frankly I've personally seen that statue close up and I still don't know what I'm supposed to gain from seeing his male equipment. I didn't run; I didn't scream they should take it down. I just didn't understand why I should want to see his male equipment. Frankly, there's almost nobody's male equipment that I want to see for any reason, live or made out of metal. And that doesn't make me an art-hater.
Here is my issue, even if the two statues weren't aroused... we all know what the artist says, but what if an out of town visitor who has no idea what it's about sees it? Yes, maybe the artist types and SAM can see it that way. But in today's society, if your average Joe Schmoe sees it, what is there first impression going to be? Is there going to be something to explain it, or is it going to be left up to the individual? I'm sorry, but if you don't know what is going on, seeing a statue of a nude guy reaching for a nude boy just looks wrong. I've known enough people who have been that boy (if you catch my drift) to look at it in any other way. The folks at SAM need to come out of their Ivory Tower bubble and spend a few days in reality (and this comes from a guy who actually went to art school).
Posted by: Mike H on October 7, 2005 11:43 AMDo any of you men with fathers remember camping or swimming? Usually one undresses and dresses one's self modestly, quitely, quickly with no celebration, outstretched hands, hugging or ANY nude affection between others. In fact, with brothers around, I remember dressing quickly so as not to get "snapped" with a "rat tail" (rolled towel)!
What's more, if you lingered in the dressing room as a kid, most Dads would say, "Hurry up and quit goofing around! Let's go. Mom's waiting." This is what liberals miss. Most people do not act like the statues. Fantasy maybe. Perversion? You decide.
I see a gay/pedophilia agenda here no matter how you slice it. I don't give a damn what Mr. Westneat does as long as he's not chasing little boys around naked through fountains in the park. This statue is a symbol of why Seattle has become such a non family friendly town. I'll never take any of my family to this park.
Honestly, Seattle is an embarasment to me on so many levels.
Posted by: Jeffro on October 7, 2005 12:35 PMThank you for your communication about the commission for the Olympic Sculpture Park of the fountain by Louise Bourgeois entitled Father and Son. We appreciate your concern and would like to clarify the description and intent of this work of art.
Furthering our mission to connect art to life in the 21st century, the Seattle Art Museum has commissioned a fountain for the Olympic Sculpture Park by internationally acclaimed artist Louise Bourgeois. The work, titled Father and Son, addresses the eternal relationship between parent and child, elaborating on the theme of mother and child that is common throughout art history.
The academic study of the nude has been the basis of sculpture for hundreds of years, and the nudity in this classically inspired work symbolizes the figures' emotional vulnerability and need to make an emotional connection. Fabricated in stainless steel, the fountain also will serve as a clock that marks the hours of the day. On the hour, the work's two figures - a father and his son - will be obscured one at a time by water gushing over their surface. When revealed, they will seem to float in the air. The two figures will not be revealed simultaneously.
At 94, Louise Bourgeois is one of the world's greatest artists working today. She gained widespread international attention as an artist after The Museum of Modern Art organized a traveling retrospective in 1982. Bourgeois represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in 1993, and in 2007-08 a retrospective organized by the Tate Modern in London will travel in Europe and the United States. In addition to exhibitions, she has received awards from the American National Medal of the Arts (1991), the French Grand Prix National de Sculpture (1991), and the Gold Lion Prize for a living master of contemporary art from the Venice Biennale (1999)."
Sincerely,
SAM
"Sam,
Thank you for the response, I didn't expect one. I understand the concept and the intent of the artist. The PI explained it pretty well in several articles, as did Ken Schram. I also appreciate the fact that the donor was a gay male and wanted a nude male statue in a fountain somewhere in Seattle.
You state that you are attempting to connect art to the 21st century. You won't accomplish that with this project. The concept of a father and son who can't see each other and can never touch each other is reflective of earlier days in the 20th century and probably reflects the attitudes and personal experiences of the female artist. It portrays a very negative stereotype of macho male fathers who are incapable of an emotional connection. There are still some thug fathers out there, but those old values have been fading for years.
The reality is that a large majority of the people who see this fountain will NOT get the concept or the artist's intent. They will see the naked male grownup and a naked male child, and the first thing that will pop in their heads is Pedophile! It is everywhere in our society, it is a blight on our humanity and you have a responsibility not to promote it!
If you want to honor the donor, who was admittedly gay, change the naked male child for another naked grown male. The concept fits our society well, two naked men who reaching for each other find can't succeed because of the heavy curtain that society places on them!
You will still get disapproval, but it wouldn't put any children in danger. Is this park near the million and half dollar sex offender safe house that was just built up in the Seattle area?
Are the sex offenders who end up there going to be able to look out a window and see the statue?
Thanks again for your answer, I am obviously still upset with the pedophilia intent. It may not be what the artist intended, but it is what people seeing it think! I don't think I am the only one complaining.
Not all money is good money and not all art is good art!"
Sincerely,
Dana
There's a double entendre if I ever heard one. Do you remember which figure is supposed to be, ummm, "longing to connect" with the other?
Posted by: Mike H on October 7, 2005 01:23 PMSeattle ellites want to be Europe and this is another step towards it...
Posted by: Dengle on October 7, 2005 01:38 PMOtherwise, I like it because it unintentionally depicts a reality of Washington and Seattle - the state comes between father and child.
Believe me, start giving it that meaning, and the statue will be gone in a nanosecond.
Posted by: BananaLand (aka Iguana) on October 7, 2005 01:57 PMPublic art should NOT evoke social discourse. The public is paying for it, we should all be able to appreciate it or at least understand it. Public art should not be something only pseudo intellectual elitist can understand. Granted, some homosexual man put up a mil to have a naked man statue installed. It's still public land. I say give his damn money back and shove his pediphile statue where he likes it most (postheumously sp.).
Seattle is becoming a s**thole!
Posted by: Jeffro on October 7, 2005 02:05 PMAnn Coulter in her book "How to Talk to a Liberal (if you must)" refers to Bill Clinton's as his "Executive Branch".
Posted by: Misty on October 7, 2005 03:43 PMnow HEEERE's "vuglarity:" a statue of Rom Sims and Dean Logan standing & smiling with a ballot box on a table! ooouuuukkk!!!! (bent-over wretching sound echoing in toilet) (and promise groaned into bowl: "never again! never again!")
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on October 8, 2005 10:43 PM