Merlion
04-13-2006, 11:02 PM
We have seen artists attracting a lot of attention and publicity by making controversial sculptures. This case is the reverse. The contention about this commissioned statue related to abortion is that it lacks the controversial punch. Is this a lack of vision of the artist?
The article below is an editorial of the DelcoTimes.
Villanova statue lacks controversial punch
If you read Tuesday’s Daily Times, you may have seen a photo of the new statue set to go up at Villanova University. The sculpture is called "Maternal Bond" and features the Blessed Mother cradling an infant. Amazing what passes for controversial these days.
What apparently makes the statue a subject of contention isn’t the statue itself.
What makes it controversial is what it is supposed to stand for: "An awareness that there are people who have been hurt by abortions and are in need of healing."
So says Lauren Homans, a senior and a member of Villanovans for Life, which has been working to get the statue funded and placed on campus for the last two years.
But for Lauren’s explanation, there is nothing in the bronze sculpture itself that would inform anyone that "abortion" was on the mind of the sculptor when he made it.
It’s just mother and baby.
If one wanted to imagine the sculptor desired to make people more aware of say, domestic violence, one certainly could. Here is a woman on her knees, protecting an infant. Why not from an abusive father? Or maybe she’s protecting the child from Nazi bombs during the Blitz.
Whatever and no matter.
What is clear is what this work of art doesn’t celebrate. It doesn’t celebrate choice. It doesn’t celebrate freedom. It celebrates a bond, a very specific bond. One that transcends politics, religion and even our species. [snip]
For the full article, click here. (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18168&newsid=16466177&PAG=461&rfi=9)
The article below is an editorial of the DelcoTimes.
Villanova statue lacks controversial punch
If you read Tuesday’s Daily Times, you may have seen a photo of the new statue set to go up at Villanova University. The sculpture is called "Maternal Bond" and features the Blessed Mother cradling an infant. Amazing what passes for controversial these days.
What apparently makes the statue a subject of contention isn’t the statue itself.
What makes it controversial is what it is supposed to stand for: "An awareness that there are people who have been hurt by abortions and are in need of healing."
So says Lauren Homans, a senior and a member of Villanovans for Life, which has been working to get the statue funded and placed on campus for the last two years.
But for Lauren’s explanation, there is nothing in the bronze sculpture itself that would inform anyone that "abortion" was on the mind of the sculptor when he made it.
It’s just mother and baby.
If one wanted to imagine the sculptor desired to make people more aware of say, domestic violence, one certainly could. Here is a woman on her knees, protecting an infant. Why not from an abusive father? Or maybe she’s protecting the child from Nazi bombs during the Blitz.
Whatever and no matter.
What is clear is what this work of art doesn’t celebrate. It doesn’t celebrate choice. It doesn’t celebrate freedom. It celebrates a bond, a very specific bond. One that transcends politics, religion and even our species. [snip]
For the full article, click here. (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1675&dept_id=18168&newsid=16466177&PAG=461&rfi=9)