In a few days, Austria assumes the EU presidency. There’s a PR frenzy around this event of course, including a partially state funded billboard project that shows, among other things, a three way where the participants are wearing masks of Jaques Chirac, George Bush, and the Queen of England. The organization responsible for posting the controversial images says they are meant “reflect on the different social, historical and political developements in Europe.”
There are 150 different images by 75 artists – three were branded offensive. They included the three way, an up the skirt angle photo of a woman’s body- she’s wearing a thong with the EU emblem on it, and a poster that says “Guess where the next terrorist attack is and win a free t-shirt!” There’s a slideshow of the offending billboards here [Link] (not work safe, boys and girls) from the Austrian press. Local reporting says the Chancellor has called for their removal. They were to be up in Vienna for a while and then be moved to Salzburg for an EU conference.
Austrians are cranky about the EU, they think they’re getting screwed. (Pun not intended, but a good one, no?) Mind you, I also heard a story on the news the other day about how Austrians are cranky in general, up to 60% cranky from 40% cranky the last time the survey was taken. Results state that they’re more pessimistic than ever, so their attitude about the EU is not different than their attitude about anything else.
I can’t hit the web site of the 25 Peaces, the artist’s collective responsible for the project, no doubt it’s down due to high traffic. The organization has done controversial projects before, including planting a vegetable garden in the Heldenplatz, a history charged plaza where, among other things, Hitler announced his annexation of Austria. I’m not sure why this is controversial – growing food in a place that was so charged seems like a prosaic way to reclaim it for the Austrians but husband says it’s like planting veggies in the national cemetery. I kind of like this idea – living things from places where there was death, but hey, that’s me. Anyway, until 25 Peaces gets their bandwidth restored, their motivation remains open to speculation.
From a critical point of view, I’ll tell you that I’m not a big fan of shock art. It’s fine for cartoons, but often, the shock value obscures the message. What’s this project supposed to say? That Britain, the US, and France are having all the fun while the rest of the EU sits at home with a magazine? That the EU is taking it lying down? Is it funny? Satire and irreverance are all fine and well with me, but they have to be really smart. One liners bore me.
The story is still unraveling and I’m wading, awkwardly, through the German language press. Further updates as events warrant.