Poor Little Mermaid

[Merlion]

This is for your information in case you have not heard or read about the news.

Denmark's Little Mermaid vandalised with dildo
Thursday March 9, 02:53 PM

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Denmark's national symbol, the Little Mermaid sculpture perched on a rock overlooking the Copenhagen port, was splattered with green paint by vandals and adorned with a dildo.

"We are taking this very seriously because one cannot accept vandalism, not on the Little Mermaid or any other public statue," deputy police commissioner Peter Steffensen told AFP.

Investigators have "no leads on the perpetrators of the act ... which took place early Wednesday," he said.

The attackers scrawled "8 marts" across the rock on which the Little Mermaid sits, marking the date in Danish of International Women's Day which was celebrated around the world on Wednesday.

"But we are not sure that it was women who committed this act," Steffensen said.

On Thursday, the statue was cleaned up and the sex toy removed.

More details here. (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/09032006/323/denmark-s-little-mermaid-vandalised-dildo.html)

By the way, what is a dildo?

[JAZ]

It is a fake penis used to enhance sexual pleasure.
too bad. But it sounds fixable. Where do people get these ideas and what do they hope to gain by it?
JAZ

[fused]

In the past 40 years, she has been decapitated twice, most recently in January 1998 after a 1990 attempt failed. She has had a bra and knickers painted on her, has been entirely covered in paint on more than one occasion, and has had her right arm cut off.

In September 2003, attackers tossed the bronze artwork in the water, where police later recovered it, and in December 2004 she was draped in a burka and a sash reading "Turkey in the EU?" by opponents of the Muslim country's entry into the block.

[Merlion]

The Little Mermaid, one of Denmark's biggest tourist attractions, is based on the character created by Hans Christian Andersen in an 1837 fairytale.

This is one of the unusual cases where a small non-controversial statue can attract so much attention. Another one I can think of, even smaller, and only mildly controversial, is the peeing boy of Brussels.

Back to this Mermaid, it should be quite simple to install CCTV to keep an eye on it. Wonder why the Copenhagen police does not do it. If it is in England, perhaps it would have been done, since England has so many CCTVs all over their cities.

[JAZ]

It is interesting that certain works of art, out of the millions that exist, are the few chosen ones that consistently are singled out for reinterpretation. What is it about them?
Two paintings: Grant Wood's "American Gothic" and DaVinci's Mona Lisa have both been parodied countless times. These are not harmful to the original as many of the acts you describe are (dumping her in the water, decapitating her or amputating limbs), but are similar to the burka draping in a way, because they are designed to alter the meaning of the original.
Why the Little Mermaid? What is it about that sculpture that attracts more of this sort of attention?
JAZ

[Merlion]

It is interesting that certain works of art, out of the millions that exist, are the few chosen ones that consistently are singled out for reinterpretation. What is it about them? .....
Why the Little Mermaid? What is it about that sculpture that attracts more of this sort of attention?

Why? It is hard to say. Perhaps while other public sculptures also get vandalised, such acts on this Little Mermaid receives more media attention. Perhaps such a lonely nude petite pretty maiden can cause arousal in some men. What other reasons can you think of?

[Merlion]

It is high time they do something about this poor little Mermaid. And it took them more than 90 years. Even then, "A decision will be made later this year".

I just wonder. Maybe they don't mind the damages and the extra worldwide publicities.

Denmark Mulls Moving Famed Mermaid Statue

The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- This city's famous Little Mermaid statue may be moved out of the reach of vandals and tourists, a city official said Wednesday.

The bronze sculpture based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same name may be relocated a few yards offshore, said Jon Pape, a spokesman for the city's roads and parks department. A decision will be made later this year, he said.

The 5-foot-high statue by Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen has been sitting on a rock at the edge of the harbor since 1913.

The mermaid statue can easily be reached by stepping on a concrete platform and other rocks that surround her. It draws about 1 million visitors a year, and is occasionally targeted by vandals.

"We regularly get complaints from tourist guides saying it often is hard for their group to see the mermaid because other tourists constantly are climbing on her to be photographed," Pape said.

The statue has been beheaded twice. Its arm has been amputated. Hooligans have doused it in paint several times. Three years ago, vandals used explosives to blow its off its perch.

It has been repaired and replaced every time.

More (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032901698.html).

[sculptor]

if memory serves,
she wasn't quite so loved when first placed on her rock
it wasn't untill the first time she was kidnapped that the complainers finally quit with their negativity, and she became generally cherished
perhaps
the constant repairing she requires keeps her loved and cherished by the citizens
'nuther 207 years and she may yet become human

I say keep fixing her and keep loving her and keep her where she is so her prince knows where to find her

It seems to be a constant of figurative work that people want to touch it, hug it, and have their pictures taken while doing so

would she be as popular if hidden away and protected in some dark museum?
I suspect that she would be slowly forgotten and this would be much worse than the damage of the vandals
she is alive to us because of her troubles and freedom
she is a creature of the sea and the people
she does well where she is

give her liberty or give her death

rod
sculptor (http://home.mindspring.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://home.mindspring.com/~mandali/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/figure.sculpture.mermaid.by.figure.sculptor.rod.pa tterson.jpg&target=tlx_new&title=Mermaid-Wave%20Rider%20%20figure%20sculptor,%20Rod%20Patte rson)

ps-Jaz
I think that it is because she is loved and universally known that she has transcended statue and become something greater
it is this fame which draws out the need of the nihilistic to attack her not for herself but for what it is perceived that she symbolizes
and the concept that she is well known makes her a prime target for those who would utilize her fame for their own mesages---kind of like "name dropping" at a party?

[Merlion]

This famous Little Mermaid has a twin sister, placed 400 m (1300 ft) away. It is not a prank, and seems to have official blessing. The artist intends it to be a genetically modified sister with twisted features and distorted limbs. I understand Europe is generally very much against GM food, and this may be one way Denmark is making a statement on this issue.

This Times Online article below carries a photo of the GM sister. As expected, it is intended to disturb.

Little Mermaid's modified sister (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2360641,00.html)

Prince Henrik of Denmark has unveiled a sculpture of a little mermaid that its creator described as a genetically modified sister to Copenhagen’s most famous landmark. .....

[GlennT]

In my opinion that image would make a great political cartoon. As a sculpture created in a permanent medium for public view, it is disgraceful.

Glenn

[dwright]

It's probably a modernista 'jab' at the supposed death of figurative realism. Many supporters of abstract art seem to believe that the human race has 'outgrown' naive realistic depictions in art.
Like the stuffed shirts of the Salon in the past century, they have become arbiters of "what is" and "what isn't" art.
So I guess we should begin to supplant all the iconic sculptures (Statue of Liberty, The Thinker, Mount Rushmore, etc.,) with abstractions, so posterity will realize what a very 'deep thinking' and sophisticated society we were.

[JasonGillespie]

Really, I think we should ignore the psuedo-intellectuals that continue to use abstraction as a means to an end thinking that they can do no wrong since it isn't identifiable.

I don't find the idea of creating an alternate mermaid offensive as such.... but the ever growing list of artistic posers who just don't get it....that sculptural forms are sculptural forms no matter what they look like...and....they are either well designed or they aren't does grate on my nerves a bit.

In my opinion Bjoern Noergaard needs to go back to school or spend time studying Picasso or Henry Moore and try to figure out what sculptural form and the interelation of those forms really are. Anyone with tools can stick objects together....that this type of construction is considered art is the disgrace.

[obseq]

After my time in Moscow this summer, I also spent a few weeks in Denmark, splitting time between Aalborg and Copenhagen.

I think the "Little Mermaid" attracts a massive amount of attention from word-of-mouth tourism. My Danish friends who accompanied me on the Copenhagen Harbor boat tour rolled their eyes at the largesse surrounding the statue both from the boat and the tour groups on land.

I think, quite simply, it is a victim of over-exposure via tourism.


Why the Little Mermaid? What is it about that sculpture that attracts more of this sort of attention?
JAZ

[obseq]

Jason,

Although my focus lies in abstraction, your statement below is a particularly astute summation of abstract/conceptual art in its present state.

Ideas aren't realized through the creation of objects, but are pantomimed in the realm of correlative thought-- Any attempt to undertsand much of the dreck being propagated today requires quite a suspension of disbelief, and a great deal of time and effort foraging through tedious treatises and diatribes that accompany said work.


Really, I think we should ignore the psuedo-intellectuals that continue to use abstraction as a means to an end thinking that they can do no wrong since it isn't identifiable.

[Thatch]

I can't say that I like the altered mermaid or the group she is a part of, however the group as a whole have continuity and while we might not admire the work of the artist I think the real question should be about the bureaucrats who decided to spend their constituants' taxes on the sculptures and architecture as a statement about the Danes as a people. If I was a Dane I would be more than just a little pissed off.

Thatch

[Thatch]

I do however find the figures of Jesus, Mary Magdelen, Adam and Eve to be humorous and including the Little Mermaid as an equal in such company even more so. Whoever decided to spend the money on this might not be too bright but they do have a sense of humour.

Thatch

[Merlion]

Oh, Thatch, are you referrring to this below?

and is part of a sculpture group dubbed “The Paradise Genetically Altered”.

Where do you find pictures of them? I tried but failed to find them.

[Thatch]

I found this article but not all of the jpegs blow up in size. Can't say it does much for me, but when you get down to it, so what?
http://www.bjoernnoergaard.dk/Expo/English.html#havfrue

Thatch

[Merlion]

This famous Little Mermaid sculpture in Copenhagen has been vandelised yet again.

Little Mermaid statue vandalized in Copenhagen (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/03/europe/EU-GEN-Denmark-Little-Mermaid.php)

March 3, 2007, COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Vandals have covered Copenhagen's famed Little Mermaid statue with pink paint, a police spokesman and tourists who visited the landmark said Saturday.

Flemming Steen Munch of the Copenhagen police confirmed the statue had been defaced, ....

"It was pink from head to toe," Kristoffer Eriksen, 29, told The Associated Press by telephone after visiting the sculpture on Saturday.

He said police were taking pictures of the statue while a cleanup crew tried to remove the paint with soap and high-pressure water cleaners. ....

[Merlion]

Vandalism keeps this famous statue in the world news all the time, attracting even more visitors. This is perhaps why the Copenhagen authorities do not want to move it to a safer location, say just 20 feet further out shore.

Little Mermaid statue vandalized in Copenhagen — again (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/15/europe/EU-GEN-Denmark-Little-Mermaid.php)

May 15, 2007, COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Copenhagen's famed Little Mermaid statue was covered with paint by vandals, the second time it has been defaced since March.

Tourists flocked to the landmark Tuesday to take snapshots of the bronze statue, whose face, left arm and lap had been doused with red paint.....

The Little Mermaid ... draws an estimated 1 million visitors a year, and has become a popular target for vandals.

Four years ago, the statue was blown off her perch by culprits who used explosives.

She has been beheaded and doused in paint several times. On March 3, vandals covered the statue with pink paint, which was quickly removed by a cleanup crew with soap and high-pressure water cleaners.