tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post6111560338738600625..comments2024-03-11T06:12:02.296-05:00Comments on The Great God Pan Is Dead: Devon Britt-Darby Speaks Robert Boydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-65640436287684826872012-09-12T17:17:26.098-05:002012-09-12T17:17:26.098-05:00Corrected.Corrected. Robert Boydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-54808354314264682422012-09-12T16:57:51.045-05:002012-09-12T16:57:51.045-05:00By the way, you don't have to be a Texas Month...By the way, you don't have to be a Texas Monthly subscriber to read Mimi Swartz's article (which has a number of factual inaccuracies but is the most thoroughly reported summary of the events leading up to the tree's vandalism) -- you just have to register with the website.Devon Britt-Darbyhttp://reliablenarratives.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-76257590079095155852012-09-12T09:36:56.389-05:002012-09-12T09:36:56.389-05:00We agree on your assessment of the Art Guys' r...We agree on your assessment of the Art Guys' relative unimportance. But the Menil, at least up until now, has insisted that their piece is so important it can't ever be put in storage, which is not how they've treated works by undeniably major figures. They've even rejected proposals to effectively deinstall the piece by putting the plaque in storage and let the tree just be a tree because it would violate the piece's 'integrity.' (That topic alone seems worthy of public discussion, leaving aside the civil rights issues Toby Kamps wrote that the piece stirs up in the No Zoning catalogue.)<br /><br />So it's too important to put away, but not important enough to merit the debate Kamps claimed to welcome in 2009. <br /><br />As for the ceremony with Weschler and Surls, that was supposedly what completed the artwork. So not having it wasn't an option once they acquired it.Devon Britt-Darbyhttp://reliablenarratives.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-90213570609993105932012-09-12T08:43:26.768-05:002012-09-12T08:43:26.768-05:00Surely if the Menil had wanted to sweep it under t...Surely if the Menil had wanted to sweep it under the rug, they wouldn't have had a public dedication in the first place. They certainly wouldn't have had one with Lawrence Weschler and James Surls speaking. <br /><br />The fact that they promoted their co-acquisition of a Mauricio Cattelan more is an apples to oranges comparison. Mauricio Cattelan is widely considered to be one of the world's most important living artists. The Art Guys, not so much. Robert Boydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10832011160514073833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633621665763939304.post-64454255728077403972012-09-12T08:29:21.359-05:002012-09-12T08:29:21.359-05:00I think you're forgetting that the Menil does ...I think you're forgetting that the Menil does indeed trumpet acquisitions it's proud of. The way it publicized its joint accession with the Dallas Museum of Art of the Mauricio Cattelan piece, for example, stands in stark contrast to its hush-hush approach to the tree acquisition, which was only noted in a members' bulletin. <br /><br />And we're still waiting for the panel discussion the Menil told Texas Monthly it was considering having. The Menil has never been shy about furthering discussions of artworks in its collections -- except in this case.Devon Britt-Darbyhttp://reliablenarratives.comnoreply@blogger.com