What would you do if you were him?

[Merlion]

There is a good picture and an interesting video of the unfortunate incident.

The report that they were not angry seems to give them better publicity from the media.

Boy's Destruction Of Monks' Art Caught On Tape

May 24, 2007, KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A child destroyed a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork at Kansas City's Union Station, and it was caught on tape.

Tibetan monks had been creating the sand art, which looks like a colorful tapestry on the floor, for two days.

A surveillance camera recorded a young boy, possibly a toddler, who walked into the sand and started dancing, while his mother mailed a package at the post office. After a few minutes, the video showed a woman pull the child away.

"Never happened before, never happened before like that," monk Jampa Tenzin said.

The monks said they were not angry at the child or his mother. Instead, they've been hard at work to finish the piece.

The monks are on a yearlong tour of the United States and Canada to raise money for their monastery. The original monastery in Tibet was destroyed. They were about halfway finished when they left for the day Tuesday, roping off the artwork before they left. .....

[JasonGillespie]

It wasn't the child's fault. I've seen the way a lot of mothers "keep an eye" on their children these days. Just today I was in a retail store where a young boy was in the process of destroying some rather fragile merchandise and the mother was no where to be seen...and when she did arrive she seemed unconcerned that the child had been tearing up product that would have to accounted for...and the cost passed on to the consumer.

I would have been understanding if it was my work...but would have to say something to the mother if I was around to see it. Sloppy parenting is no excuse for the monks' art being damaged.

[iron ant]

I saw that video,kid just being a kid with out intent to actually know what he was doing,Mom on the other hand need her ass chewed.I have been MR Mom for years,and it is not easy,but there is no excuse for not watching or knowing where your kids are in a public setting..........................Eric

[ironman]

Hi, Perhaps the toddler was giving a critique of the work!
Have a great day,
Jeff

[GlennT]

The Tibetian monks make these and then they are taken to the river to be consumed. In this case the toddler was the river. Or perhaps the Buddha, testing the faith of the monks, who seem to have reacted well.

[evaldart]

I have survived one toddler and am presently at war with another. The odds are against me. It only takes a second for huge disaster to occur. The 24/7 attention is not as easily maintained as people think. My children have grown up visiting museums with priceless works within reach and it has to be on your mind that they might decide to "interact" with them. They finally reach an age when this is no longer a threat, but when? I can sympathize with both the monks and the parent.

But sand art? If you're the artist you can't be too surprised. And if you're going to make something THAT fragile and temporary...better guard it yourself.

[Merlion]

I didn't put in this second paragraph quote below from the news story earlier on. It'll help to clarify things.

The monks are on a yearlong tour of the United States and Canada to raise money for their monastery. The original monastery in Tibet was destroyed. They were about halfway finished when they left for the day Tuesday, roping off the artwork before they left.

The lead monk said it was "no problem," adding, "we will have to work harder" to get it finished before Saturday. It will then be swept up and offered to onlookers for their gardens. The rest will be placed in the Missouri River.

For additional interest, these are the before and after pictures of the trample of the kid over the beautiful sand art.

[dilida]

the painting will be "swept up and offered to onlookers for their gardens". I love that. What a beautiful way to share the art, and I don't know a thing about the monks purpose in doing this, but it strikes me as a way of keeping the finished product in a place lower than the place of interacting with others or the act of making the painting.

lisa

[StevenW]

It could just as easily have been a stray cat or dog. I can remember disappearing from my mom's sight as a kid and getting lost all of the time, I was a little explorer to be sure.. If that was mine I'd have some sheet plastic barricade around it so even a mouse couldn't get in. Poor planning on a monks part does not constitute a crime on mom's part.
I go to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival every year, its a 3-day outdoor event in Denver with thousands of people and hundreds of artists and booths. One guy was doing some pretty nice water colors and must have had over a hundred of them stacked up on displays. Around 5 pm a rogue thunderhead rolled in and drenched them. It happened in a matter of minutes on an otherwise cloudless day and he was one of the only guys out there with no tent or awning. I felt real bad for that guy and he must have lost a years work in a few minutes, but almost everyone else there was prepared.

[Tinkerbell]

I agree with Glen T and the monks have deeper spiritual callings than to judge or sigh at their hard work being defaced. Should art be forever preserved and made to appear the way it did the day it was finished? Every artist puts a great deal of spirit into their work but gains a great deal from it too, if I were able to create intricate patterns with a group of people who shared the same aim and desires I would gladly wipe the slate clean every day to be able to do the same again the next. mmmmmm

[frozenimage]

Sand art is, in general, temporary....and also quite influenced by all manner of natural forces. As are.....MONKS!

They got a load of publicity out of this....great advertising......plus had something to discuss around the temple!

I feel bad that the piece was messed, but also.....it changed it.....I would bet the monks were not very upset. I meditate with an antique Tibetan "singing bowl," don't get upset if the woods drop a tree branch out here while in the state of meditation. On the OTHER hand, maybe the kid, or the Mum, needs a good talking to.

frozenimage

[evaldart]

lets see this as a microcosm of all art, the toddler is the ever sweeping hands of time - us scattered accross the universe beneath them.

(I dont want to see the spam)

[cooljamesx1]

I agree with evaldart- your asking for trouble making sand art in a train station!

[sculptor]

[quote=Merlion]...The monks are on a yearlong tour of the United States and Canada to raise money for their monastery. The original monastery in Tibet was destroyed. They were about halfway finished when they left for the day Tuesday, roping off the artwork before they left.

The lead monk said it was "no problem," adding, "we will have to work harder" to get it finished before Saturday. It will then be swept up and offered to onlookers for their gardens. The rest will be placed in the Missouri River. "


Could Buddhist monks have had any other response?

sand castles on the beach are not intended for habitation

sand paintings are for the journey, not the destination, and,
invariably yield to forces of nature, or a good stout broom.

toddlers are a force of nature

thanks for th updates merlion
hmmmm.
mer-maid
mer-man
mer-lion

[AKady]

Oh those monks visited my school a few months ago, and not just did the sand art, but also preformed their instruments. I wonder if they had the table set up like we did where people could try it them selves, maybe that would have kept the kid away, well no i doubt it.

[Merlion]

[quote=sculptor]

Originally Posted by Merlion

...
thanks for th updates merlion
hmmmm.
mer-maid
mer-man
mer-lion

I took the name from this creature.



Artistically it is not too good. And don't ask me why the artist put the water jet at the wrong place.

By mer-man, do you mean this ?

[sculptor]

Originally Posted by Merlion

By mer-man, do you mean this ?

yes---sort of
I had something a bit more artistic in mind
something derived from Mesopotamian art

[circeart]

I don't know if I'm the only one that sees this but those before and after pictures don't look like they're the same painting to me.

Besides, they should know that these things are bound to happen, cause kids occur. That painting should have been fenced-off with one of those plastic mesh-type things they use in airports.

And wonder what made the kid want to dance there , it must of been meant to be (hee-hee).

Anyway, I think the monks have a good attitude about it!

[sculptor]

Interesting:

from merlion's posted pictures, it seems that they sketch the work first, then.."paint by numbers"
and,
I had thought it was a free handed spiritual journey

or

did I see the second photo wrong?

[evaldart]

"Spirituality by numbers" hey, as long as you get there I guess. The only monk I ever thought much about was Edvard...and he was servin' up terror and dismay. But with style.

[jssculptor]

hey after looks better to me!!!!

[Merlion]

Here is another incident, very different from the previous one.

What would you do if you were the TV photographer ?

Do people sometimes urinate in cemetries ?

TV Photographer Fired For Urinating In Cemetery, Covering Funeral

Veteran television photographer Gerry Edwards of KGAN-TV in Center Rapids, Iowa, has been fired for urinating in a cemetery while covering the funeral of an Iowa soldier killed in Iraq, The Des Moines Register reported in today's newspaper.

But Edwards says he was unable to leave the scene to urinate for fear of missing the funeral possession, and testified recently at a state unemployment benefits hearing that he was "leaned on to get that shot."

In a story .... published today, it's reported that Edwards was fired by KGAN-TV in December after he was sent to cover the funeral of Sgt. James Musack of Riverside, Iowa, who was killed in Iraq. The story says that another journalist, from a newspaper in Kalona, saw Edwards urinating on the ground near a cemetery monument while waiting for the funeral procession to arrive, and the photojournalist photographed Edwards in the act.

Later one of the newspaper's editors eMailed a picture of the incident to Edward's bosses at KGAN-TV, Kauffman says, along with a note: "Urinating behind a statue of Mary in a Catholic cemetery within clear view of a public road, not to mention the numerous members of the Army who were on hand for the funeral, is inexcusable."

Within hours Edwards was escorted out of KGAN-TV, the Register says, and he was given the choice to resign or be fired - and he refused to resign. ...

The story is in today's Register because of the TV photographer's appeal for state unemployment benefits, a claim in which he says that he was unable to leave the cemetery for fear of missing the procession. An administrative law judge who heard the appeal for unemployment responded that the act of urinating in the cemetery was "disrespectful, unprofessional, and offensive." ....

[StevenW]

He's lucky, If I pulled out Otis in public I'd get a ticket for lewd and lacivious conduct, be branded a sexual offender, do 90 days in the klink and get 2 years on probation for flashing. Here I'd get an ankle monitor and the whole 9 yards. Of course, I'd take a leak before I went to such an important event or at the very least, hop in the van and find an empty 1 liter water bottle. I have water with me everywhere I go anyway..

The guy should be fired just for failing two of life's most fundamental IQ tests... Not going at the 7-Eleven one block away before he got there and being caught in public during a private biological event.

Not to mention it's a cemetary for crying out loud and he obviously has no shame. His argument for unemployment follows the same line of rationalization that every irresponsible person holds: Somebody else made me do it..

[sculptor]

Originally Posted by Merlion

...urinating in the cemetery was "disrespectful, unprofessional, and offensive." .... [/color]

December was cold
coffee
stomping yer feet waiting for the dead guy
and then the need for relief and a photojournalist---wrong place, wrong time

poor schmuck
fired for cause-no unemployment benefits no money
probably stooping to photojournalism to make ends meet

[Tired Iron]

Yup, societal rules , dictating bodily functions and when and where they should happen. We've made our beds...guess we have to lie in them. Just don't wet the bed..........