Valleywag
A few words associated with former PodTech videoblogger Loren Feldman, infamous for his political correctness, might include "chaff," "talentless," "idiot comedian," or "racist." "Artistic inspiration for generations to come" wouldn't be the first phrase to come to mind. But Charles Hope, a blogger for online video site Blip.tv, says that Feldman could be responsible for "a deeply moving work of art." Huh?
Here's how Blip.tv's Hope twisted himself into this verbal impasse. In a spat with a viewer offended by Blip.tv's hosting of Feldman's videos, he embarked on a long anticensorship screed to explain why Feldman's 1938 Media would not be booted from the site. The viewer, identified only as "T.", then pointed to a line in Blip's terms of service which reads:
Content that is or may be deemed to be grossly offensive to the online community, including but not limited to, blatant expressions of bigotry, prejudice, racism, hatred and profanity.At that point, Hope abandoned both his reasoning skills and any remaining contact with reality. One man's personal crusade to ban Feldman's stupid, and yes, grossly offensive "TechNigga" would ultimately end, Hope claimed, as a "foreshadowing of the Reign of Terror predicted after a Democrat victory in 2008."
Hope then suggests this alternative outcome to simply booting Feldman off the site:
... the profound impact of a deeply moving work of art. Loren's video should inspire works which outlive it by decades, which look forward to the future instead of the past, which give us a glimpse of the glorious potential of humankind. Works which send shivers down the spine and trigger paradigm shifts, which children remember the rest of their adult lives.Loren Feldman certainly sends shivers down our spines. He certainly inspires pity, contempt, and ridicule. But inspiring art? He's not worth it.
Comments
You wouldn't think this is NEARLY as ridiculous as you think it is if you've been to an art museum lately and seen what is passing for "art."
How about: a cow's head in formaldehyde?
an electrical sign programmed with pithy sayings?
18 hubcaps on the museum wall? Title of the piece: "Protruding Hubcaps." How about a doll-size human figure carved out of plain white styrofoam?
This is a MAJOR city art museum.
There was also an artist in Australia who got the bright idea to create a bomb scare to bring attention to his "peace bomb." Australians have more sense, apparently, because the guy paid huge fines, did jail time, and STILL can't find any takers for his "art."
Yes, I can TRULY believe someone would actually be such a wanker.
maybe i just missed the cool kids boat, but i never bought into the hype surrounding Feldman's video. sounded a lot more like a lot of guilty-feeling white people deflecting attention. it's like the U.S. condemning Iran for human rights abuses while the U.S....acts like the U.S.
on first/only look, the video did seem like it could be a bit racist, but i'm much more concerned with the extreme, at least passive, racism that flows through this here Valley - like at the whites-only BarCampBlock, or whites-only Google, etc.
I once saw a grant recipient's piece at a major art museum that really stood out. It was done with a paint scraper, and the "artist" scraped a wide straight line of paint and plaster straight down a wall, into a little pile, with the scraper left next to it.
Somewhere, some moron with more dollars than sense funded a grant that went to the "artist" to create that work.
PS: @SHMOOTH I think if you look around Google you might notice a few people of Asian descent. Not to mention David Drummond. Know what I'm saying?
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