Thursday, March 19, 2009

Angry Artist #2: Julia Roberts doing Christian Bale doing Jorge Zontal

Thirty years ago, the f-word was reserved for "special" situations. Now it is sprinkled around like salt on a tortilla chip. Too bad: it has lost much of its expressive value as a result of overuse. Did you see Julia Roberts getting all Christian Bale-ish on Letterman? Poised, demure and ladylike. What a waste of a good word.

Back in 1979 when "fuck" had more meaning, Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson of General Idea made a video taking on the artist's relationship with mass media and the marketplace. In the process, they neatly skewer art critics, art prizes, and popular cliches of the artist as wild child. Then, Jorge Zontal delights with what is, and probably always will be, the finest artist rant ever to be recorded. Very, very funny, but also a serious and prescient commentary on the uneasy relationship between art and fame.

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