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Well-Aged Beef

Aaron

Well-known member
Meat art garners ghastly glares
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Aug 11, 2006, 00:43

NORTH BAY, Ont. (CP) — The creator of Dead Skinned Men Wrapped in Barbed Wire welcomes the disgusted looks on people’s faces as they hold their noses in front of his smelly, steak-wrapped artwork.
And Andrew Van Schie is even more pleased if they take time to give it a second look.
“Obviously I want people to see my work, which is why I decided to display it during Heritage Festival weekend,” he said, referring to North Bay’s annual music festival staged Aug. 4-7.
“The art is in front of people and they are forming a positive or negative reaction, but what’s important is that they’re forming some sort of emotion or an opinion.”
The sculpture, located next to a sidewalk across from the city’s courthouse, was put up on Saturday and could remain in place for another week or so.
The plywood and fibreglass work looks like 2 1/2 men standing on top of each other. All of the pieces are painted red and wrapped with raw steak, which is secured by staples. The sculpture is also wrapped with barbed wire.
In a statement on his website, www.van-schie.com, Van Schie said “the work is developing and evolving from the slow erosion of North America’s patriarchal system.”
The Dead Skinned Men are not actual dead men but rather “dead in the mind,” reads the statement. The sculpture “symbolizes the idea that men must change in their thinking to move forward as people in society.”
“As in most things, change occurs through acts of nihilism allowing new systems to evolve or come to the forefront. The idea of man on fire (represented by the red paint) is about burning and destroying an antiquated way of thinking (represented by the rotting meat). Out of the fire’s ashes we can only hope for something better.”
“Overall, my work is ... about questions. Questions lead to discussion and then maybe to change.”
Standing near the sculpture, Van Schie said passersby have told him it is a waste of meat and that it stinks, which he said are “base level responses.”
People’s reactions to the artwork have been a little bolder at night.
“We had one guy go up to it and lick it, but most people just sneak up to touch it,” said Van Schie.
By Sunday, hundreds of flies were buzzing around the meat and the smell was noticeable to those walking along the sidewalk.
“Is it ever gross!” said one passerby, who just stood near the statue and stared.
However, there were others, like John Coffman, who loved the exhibit. “It’s an excellent and lovely provocative piece,” he said.
“I hope it gets people thinking about art and its purpose,” said Coffman.
The work is being presented by the White Water Gallery and the WKP Kennedy Gallery.
(North Bay Nugget)
 

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