MasturbArt with David Cerny inBrussels »
Posted By Radiofreeeuropa 1 year ago in Arts & EntertainmentWith touches of political incorrectness and impudence, the iconoclastic Czech artist is teaching tourists in Brussels about European geography. His 'Entropa' installation - which cost £350, 000 - sends up European stereotypes, and remains a hot topic amongst politicians and the inquisitive
Read Full Story at cafebabel.com »
659 Views Share Story 17 Comments Report
Submitted By:
Radiofreeeuropa
All progress comes from unreasonable people.
Rats live on no evil star!
Wasilla: All I saw...
Sorry, just palindroming around with terrorists.
Are you still ...
Who Also Submitted: All »
Other Related Articles: All »
RSS Join the Discussion
+ Add CommentComments So Far: 17 (view all)
-
100%
Radiofreeeuropa1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Cerny commented "We knew the truth would come out," ... "But before that, we wanted to find out if Europe is able to laugh at itself".
Reply
I first heard of Cerny when he painted a Soviet tank pink, more than a few moons ago. He is really quite brilliant in his ideas and his sculptures are known to cause reactions...perhaps the definition of good art...that it forces you to react in some fashion eh? Well anyway there is a fantastic interview here.
http://www.cafebabel.com/eng/article/20960/david-c...
Enjoy!-
100%
Radiofreeeuropa1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Cerny comments on the installation.
Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXzEMAEKT8k
-
-
100%
Radiofreeeuropa1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
David Cerny - "Personally, I would rather not do political art"
Reply
interview here- http://www.radio.cz/en/article/42509
According to RadioPraha's website-
"France is draped in a banner reading “strike!”, Sweden comes flat-packed in an IKEA box, and Germany is criss-crossed by autobahns, whose outline, some say, traces a swastika. ‘Entropa’, the artwork the Czech Republic commissioned to hang in the Council of the EU, plays upon the stereotypes and sore points of each of the union’s member states. The renowned Czech sculptor David ?erný welded each of the 27 pieces into what looks like a giant ‘Airfix’ model. His map of the Czech Republic features some of President Vaclav Klaus’s most eurosceptic comments. The other 26 parts were credited to artists from the relevant EU states, though on Tuesday it emerged that the Czech sculptor may have created all of them himself, using false names.
David ?ernýDavid ?erný
Before putting the work up on Monday, Czech officials said they hoped it would provoke discussion, and that it certainly has. Pavel Novák is one of Czech Radio’s Brussels correspondents. He says the installation has been stopping crowds of EU employees in their tracks:
“Some of them were satisfied and said ‘okay, this is fun’. But some weren’t so happy. For example, one lady from Bulgaria was a little bit upset when she saw that Bulgaria is depicted as a so-called Turkish toilet.”
The Czech Republic has maybe built up a bit of a reputation as being rather difficult in Brussels over the last couple of years. Does this not further damage the Czech Republic’s reputation in the EU?
“Yes, I think that this installation also alludes to our reputation of being an enfant terrible and not so easy a member of the European Union. It shows that really we want to encourage Europe not to be so serious, and to solve its problems using a little bit more humour.”
Depending on which way you look at it, ‘Entropa’ will be jollying up, or defacing, the EU’s Justus Lipsius building until the end of the Czechs’ presidency in June. Then it will be put on display in Prague." -
100%
gamahuche1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Well the best thing is that no one managed to get it closed down! Second best is that its apparently going to get displayed in Prague, which saves the need to take an expensive trip to probably the most boring capital in Europe [there are a couple that I haven't yet given the once over, e,g, Luxembourg] where the most significant art object prior to this was the naked "Manneken Pis" a sculpture of a little boy putting out a fire which according to the legend WOULD have destroyed Brussels.
Reply
Re the Cerny installation - I heard that the Bulgarians did prevail on the powers-that-be to COVER the display which apparently made it even funnier.
Of course this kind of scenario - especially that way that each nation responds! - is also a perfect test of a culture's characteristics, a veritable Roscharch test of its psychology and its defences and its complexes.
I put up a story about it when it opened based on this article: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/11/europe/brus...
There have been many, many more..
Cerny started his public career of shocking the bourgeoisie by painting a Soviet tank pink in Prague, followed by making a sculpture of our [patron] Saint Wenceslas sitting on an upside-down dead horse at the opposite of the Main New Town Square in Prague facing the "Official" one which stands just below the National Museum. -
-
100%
gamahuche1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
At:
Reply
http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_?erný#.C4.8C.C5...
you'll find a pretty good selection of his work. Texts are in Czech but there are no English language sites which have as good a selection.-
100%
gamahuche1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Sorry! This link didn't work with the diacritics - it turned into a link to the name David in Czech.
Reply
THe English version is not so bad - and at least you'll all be able to read it too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cerny
-
-
100%
gamahuche1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Another less well-known work, combining direct political insult with caricature is here:
Reply
http://amesadeluz.blogspot.com/2008/08/brown-nosin...
***
Obviously I'd enjoy spending the rest of the afternoon hanging out here but a hefty deadline - a probable all-nighter awaits.
Of course the best would be a propeller excursion to the Czech lands when Cerny's Brussels installation returns when copious quantities of lager could be consumed in conjunction with visiting the installation..-
100%
Radiofreeeuropa1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I had seen a photo of brown nosing before, but the details as always are important and were omitted. That's a nice link.
Reply
Though I'd love to make that trip, financial realities may be canceling any travel plans for me this year...but I try to live one day at a time, and one of these days that trip may just overide the things that seem "necessary".
-
-
-
100%
Radiofreeeuropa1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Here is a slideshow that shows the individual scultures in the installation. (along with another article).
Reply
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_an... -
100%
Radiofreeeuropa1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Thanks for the insightful commentary Gamahuche, I am certain I first heard of Cerny through you. And indeed what a grand outing it would be to enjoy a local Pilsner while taking in the installation in Prague. Often times when people ask "how ya' doin'" I respond "I have seen better days" but should that scenario unfold I would not be able to say that with any degree of honesty.
Reply-
100%
gamahuche1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
"And indeed what a grand outing it would be to enjoy a local Pilsner while taking in the installation in Prague"
Reply
I can assure you that I'm working on it!
I've been an organiser of trips for many years - sometimes for film shoots, sometimes "special interests", like alchemy - but for some considerable time I've been working on preparing some "Beer Journeys" - both of the "deep immersion" kind [a couple of my potential destinations even, literally, permit bathing in beer!] and also allied to certain cultural themes - e.g. the life and art of Bohumil Hrabal - who was raised in a brewery [till recently I thought he was born in one!], out of which came the novelette "Cutting it Short", which was also filmed with the same title, in English.
Both the brewery where he lived as a child and the one where the film was shot can be visited - as of course can his favourite Prague pub where, with Vaclav Havel, he met Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright for a couple of beers in 1994. [In order for that to take place 2 secret service guys had to come in advance, tap a fresh barrel of beer and seal it!]
Here's a wiki for Hrabal which mentions these details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohumil_Hrabal
-
-
100%
Radiofreeeuropa1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
The "tower babies" is ultimately my favorite, but on the other hand it probably says the least on the surface anyway.It's a different class of the same absurdity.
Reply
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/DKIMAGES/Discover... -
100%
Ciera-Marie1 year ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Thank you for submitting this RFE! This guy has talent.
Reply
I had a hard time figuring out which country was wrapped in a tarp. I also couldn't find Greece on fire and what country has the nuclear reactors?
Wonder if it'll ever be a traveling exhibit? -
Add a Comment
Sign In With Your Propeller Account
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.