You know how artists are often represented as being difficult self-righteous asses who just find it too impossible to honor issues and opinions beyond their own outlook? Well, after the gi-normous eco-blunder that was the Waste Man, I’m convinced about the factuality of the above observation.
You see the Waste Man was a 25m high “man” constructed entirely of the detritus of modern consumer society – planks of wood, tables, chairs, keyboards, paintings, dartboards, a front door, toilet seats- as a narrative representing consumer culture and human movement created by Antony Gormley, his assistant, a team of professional riggers and a small army of enthusiastic volunteers from Margate.
Now the artistic thought behind the giant man made of garbage was all well and good, until the Mr. Gormley decided it was a great idea to have the whole thing burnt to the ground in front of a huge audience and have the video footage of the arson be made definitive part of Penny Woolcock’s epic film, Exodus, a modern retelling of the biblical story of Exodus exploring themes of identity, migration and great movements of people across the globe.
Now I’m all for symbolisms and art and exploring the human history, but when art turns poisonous for the environment, it’s really not worth it!
Source: Haute Nature
