MoDA

MoDA

In The Museum of Desecrated Art
Not all the faces are defaced,
Bodies deformed.
Both Picasso and Francis Bacon are represented
By portraiture,
Entirely conventional,
As if appealing to an 18th Century market,
Weary of the grotesque.
There is enough, however, to justify the title
And draw sufficient numbers of punters
To pay and queue to enter
And queue to look and queue to comment
And exit through the gift shop, bearing gifts.
Who would leave the show and not be satisfied
With the memory of Mona Lisa
With a Hole in her Head
(Shot apparently at close range),
Or Whistler's Mother,
The figure of the old woman
Replaced by that of a mummified corpse,
Or a section of a wall,
Graffitied by street artist Banksy,
Whitewashed by the local council?
Less satisfying perhaps are:
A Goya Nightmare that comes with a trigger warning
And Rubens ample women
Given a sensible weight.
And The Venus de Milo
Complete in body.

But the most curious piece
Is titled Stalemate,
Or, known colloquially as,
The Animal Chess Board.
It seems to have nothing to do with defacement
Or the satirising of current norms.
It's as if the curator of the show
Had no where else to put it.
He or she or they seem/seems to be challenging
The visitor to question relevancy
And the promise of a title.
The curious chessboard
Has animals
Instead of the traditional pieces,
A panda for King, zebra for Knight, and magpie for Rook.

Reviews

[Ken e Bujold]

I certainly believe you succeeded in making readers think about art, old and modern, and how it relates to our reality. Great read

Ken e

[John]

Thanks for this. I love the scepticism if not downright dismissal that Andy Warhol expressed with the line 'Art? Isn't that a guy's name?'

[Robert Haigh]

Modern art (or much of it) requires a leap of faith - or imagination - by the observer. I usually prefer the old masters to the modernists, even though I concede that some of the "new guys" are quite interesting! Something which is open to interpretation often elicits wildly differing opinions. I for one consider John and Yoko's "Two minutes of Silence" a stroke of genius (in the context of the album it is on), whereas some people consider it to be two minutes of pretentious nothingness! An interesting write (your poem, that is), which got me thinking all kinds of things!

[John]

Thanks for your response Robert. My intention with the poem was to get the reader thinking about art and its relation to meaning. I agree with you that visual art before the 20th century is generally superior, but modernist work such as that from Mark Rothko can give the viewer a unique experience.

[Eilis]

To me, your poem speaks to this space where we seek meaning, and then kind of goes above that to examine how we seek meaning in things we assume have meaning because we are lead in some way to believe they do. We here being humans who seek meaning by looking to others to direct them toward it. Perhaps in the appearance of a queue itself and the curiosity it creates and the sense of needing to belong some will feel when they sense interest, but aren’t sure what has provoked it. In some ways your poems calls into question the meaningfulness of art itself, but more so I sense a question of motive. Does art or human expression become meaningful in intent—is purity important, or is the expression and acceptance of others enough to impart meaning. Of course many artists experience continued rejection of their art during their lifetimes, but later, merit is imparted. I suppose this can be true for many things in human culture. Your poem makes me think about all of these things along with the sort of irony of the scene you describe. An erased Banksy? Haha. It is like the symbolism of meaning develops in the unexpected but also that meaning only becomes meaning if it is collectively accepted. I will have to think about that more. I’m not sure I’m expressing that properly. I really enjoyed the tone and questions of your poem, John.

[John]

Thank you very much for such a comprehensive response. I was looking to raise lots of questions around art, which you have managed to identify. Particularly impressive is your response to the lines about queuing - the need to belong isn't something I was aware of when writing but I think fits in with the whole thesis.

[Kim S.]

Quite an intriguing write, enjoyed

[John]

Thanks a lot for your response.