The other day I came across the photo below on i09. It is a work by Italian artist Giuseppe Veneziano who is known for taking contemporary cultural icons and turning them on their heads.
The i09 blog initially says this is like the classic statue depicting Perseus with the head of Medusa, The Gorgon. I still love the original Clash of the Titans to this day.
But the i09 blog also points out this statue may be more of a reference to the following painting by Caravaggio depicting David after cutting off the head of Goliath. See this link for some interesting ideas about the painting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_with_the_Head_of_Goliath
I think it would be fair to say both the Goliath and Medusa allusions are correct.
If Medusa, Ronald represents DEATH from processed/fast food and evil, fat, greedy American Globalization. His head is dripping sugary ketchup and his gaze and turns the arteries of any creature to stone. Perseus is either a bureaucrat who legislated Ronald into a guillotine or the small farmers/restaurateurs of the world finally fighting back. Or Perseus could just be a Hangry Hipster who took justice for counter culture to an extreme.
If Goliath, he represents the hopeful death of trans fats, processed food, pesticides, fast food, high fructose corn syrup, Girl Scout cookies and all Hostess products... just to name a few. In this case, David represents the spirit of truth/nature coming forth to slay corruption with purity and goodness which gave him the nutrients and the strength to win. [Just like Nacho vs. Ramses].
Personally, I hope we can find a better balance in our food. I don't want to legislate away all junk food. As Ron Swanson would say:
I know tax payers, medicare, blah, blah, blah. We need to get back to people figuring out their own business rather than the Nanny state doing it for us.
Perhaps the best interpretation of the statue is that we have embraced and become Ronald/Medusa/Goliath! Truth and the impending doom that awaits a corrupt society is what will slay us and spill our sugary ketchup blood back to its mother earth.
Death to Ronald. Apparently, others are way ahead of me on this.
1 comment:
Long live contemporary art! I still have yet to see Avatar.
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