The sculpture shows a female officer wearing a helmet, body armour and a baton squatting with her combat trousers around her knees with a realistic-looking puddle on the floor.The display - at Dreseden College of Art in Germany - won young artist Narcel Walldorf a £1,000 prize but has outraged critics.
Police union spokesman Hagen Hisgen said: "There is freedom of art - but this time it has gone too far."
And local interior minister Markus Ulbig added "It is offensive towards policewomen and in my opinion is against human dignity." But a spokesperson for the art school said: "Narcel doesn't understand why people are attacking what is simply a work of art."
There are more photos here.
I wouldn't want it in my living room, but I don't see anything wrong with it. What's next for this artist, a sculpture of Paula Radcliffe having a wee whilst running a marathon?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I don't see it as art. Its a mannequin wearing a uniform posed in such a way as to get the most publicity.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see it as art. I see an outrageous and funny reminder of the fact we are all humans, whatever else we may be.
ReplyDeletehahaha. Cmon, a policewoman's gotta pee. Really cool :D
ReplyDeleteLeast she's not curling off a turd.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it reveals someone whose job is to be tough and invulnerable and in control (note all the armour she's wearing), in a very vulnerable position -- privates exposed, squatting. As Insolitus says, it's a reminder of our common human frailty. And it works with a policewoman in a way that it wouldn't with a policeman, since she has to undress and squat to pee (a man standing to pee, for some reason, suggests assertiveness and dominance).
ReplyDeleteI can see why the police wouldn't like it, though. They're not in the business of appearing vulnerable. I also like the minister's comment that it's "against human dignity." That's true, in a way -- just not in the way he meant it.
Like Ratz, though, I wouldn't want it in my house.