“Art” has gone crazy everywhere:
NAPLES, Italy, Oct 10 (Reuters) – A new 12-metre artwork in one of Naples’ main squares by the late Italian designer Gaetano Pesce has raised eyebrows for its phallic appearance, coupled with a suggestive name.
The cylindrical creation, called “Tu si’ ‘na cosa grande” (“You’re a big thing” in local dialect), is described as representing the stylised costume of the classic Neapolitan “Commedia dell’Arte” character Pulcinella.
Pesce’s work replaced Michelangelo Pistoletto’s “Venus of the Rags” – a supersized version of a classical Roman sculpture next to a mound of discarded clothes – on display in the Piazza del Municipio in the southern Italian city.
Alongside it stand two giant hearts, pierced by Cupid’s arrow. Like the column, they can be lit up from within.
“After the famous ‘Venus of the Rags’ we couldn’t miss this one, which to be honest is really a phallic symbol in all its glory,” said local resident Matteo Vasta.
A twelve meter penis. That’s just short of forty feet of plaster dong. The mind reels! Is Naples having a revival of Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman, or something?
In what imaginable reality is this “art?” The Bizarro universe? But someone paid for it – willingly. And Neapolitans gawk at it as if it held the key to some vital secret.
There’s room in the world for nonrepresentational art. But giant penises erected – pardon the pun – in public places? Yes, yes, I know about the sex-promotion festivals in Japan where a giant penis is paraded down the streets. And no, I don’t approve of that either! But the Japanese are crazy and – if I can judge from the popularity of their sex-saturated manga — have been for quite some time.
Giant penises do not belong in town squares! They belong in the privacy and security of the bedroom, where they won’t shock the horses and can be used to their best advantage!
