481 Bullets for art
OK, I get it, it’s only art if
it shocks. Or at least if it’s talked about; says the artist, Tony Albert, of
this awful ‘art-work’, “It’s a wonderful thing (that people will talk about
it), because the stories that inspired the creation of Yininmadyemi – Thou
didst let fall have been untold for too long." Here's my take on the shemozzle (a letter to my newspaper, the SMH):
A new war memorial, ostensibly to
honour fallen diggers. This time we come right to the point: This is what you
get when you go to war. A bullet. Much more pertinent than those feeble
displays of guns and cannons in prominent positions in our public spaces:
a bullet, possibly to the head; where it tears away your cranium and splatters
your brain right over the face of your comrade next to you; or maybe slashes open
your midriff and splashes your guts onto the battlefield; or just rips
your leg off clean. Nice. (Another low-point for Australian art: The Big Merino, the Big Banana, the Big Bullet. Yuk.)
Artist Tony Albert expects that the
Hyde Park artwork may "ruffle some feathers". Photos: Peter Rae
