Elvan Penny and Scott Phelps, fourth-year film students at Watkins College of Art & Design, say they might remove Fearful Symmetry from the 2004 Brownlee O. Currey Student Art Exhibition to spare the school the negative publicity they believe the work created.
Penny and Phelps were described last night as emotionally exhausted by the controversy. Penny would not discuss their pending decision, other than to say that the two hoped to reach a verdict today.
Watkins President Jim Brooks, who said he was surprised by the change of heart, praised their intention all along as noble.
"They were very sensitive to what is going on in the world, and they tried to make a strong statement about violence and inhumanity in our culture. That was a noble effort. Then they saw just an awful negative reaction against the institution" and began questioning whether to keep the work in the show.
I don't know anymore. The more I hear the president of my school talk, the more I feel he belongs in politics. He didn't strike me that way before, but ever since the town hall meeting yesterday and seeing him on the news, he is starting to sound more and more like a politician.
Brooks said the reaction came in the form of a dozen phone calls and e-mails sent to the school yesterday. He said they ranged from "expressing concern to really just being very angry about the work," a 4½-minute video that includes the sight and sound of the gruesome death of hostage Eugene Armstrong late last month.
Don't people out there have something better to do than to complain about something they haven't even seen yet?
At one point yesterday, it was announced that a separate controversial work, Penny's photograph of a man masturbating, might be relocated from the main gallery space to a more "secure" location. It would still have a warning sign but no longer be draped.
It's in the administration wing, which really isn't all that secure to being with, but it is kind of separated from the rest of the school. Unfortunately, that hallway directly links up with the gallery. I mean, the Head of Admission's office is literally next to the gallery! His office shares the same circuit breakers, for crying out loud!
Earlier yesterday, students, faculty and administrators came together in the school's theater for a "town hall" meeting. Penny and Phelps attempted to explain their work and engaged in dialogue with fellow students.
"There was no shouting, no accusatory manner. People respected each other's points of view, but we heard the full range of opinions," Brooks said. "There has been a very, very energetic internal debate here."
Yet, at the same time, nothing really got resolved either.
Personally, I doubt this will be the end of this. As long as there are artists out there that are willing to risk their reputation to get a message across, this kind of controversy will never end.
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