Disrespecting Us Veterans

Great Piece Robert an So Right On!!

L.A. Museum’s Destruction of Anti-War Art Disrespects Veterans

December 23, 2010 - Creating art sends a message. Destroying art also sends a message. One wonders what message was intended by the destruction of an anti-war-for-profit mural at the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A.

Hiding behind “sensitivity” for veterans, MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch’s order to destroy artist Blu’s work on the wall of the Geffen Contemporary Building conveyed a deep ignorance about the veterans community in the United States, which includes a great many people who strongly oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here’s how Deitch explained his decision to destroy Blu’s art:

“‘This is 100% about my effort to be a good, responsible, respectful neighbor in this historic community,’ Deitch said. ‘Out of respect for someone who is suffering from lung cancer, you don’t sit in front of them and start chain smoking.’”

This is a strange metaphor because it implies that the dissent conveyed through art is killing people, rather than the war. It implies that a strong public statement of the opposition to wars for profit hurts veterans. But, if Deitch stopped and thought about it, he’d realize that the mural wasn’t a cigarette smoked in the face of the lung cancer victim, but rather the surgeon general’s warning on the side of cigarette pack. {continued}