Some people don't mind this, but I am not one of those people, and will not be regardless of how much people try to "well it's no big deal so why can't I" to me
The sickening feeling of confronting a guy who messages you anodyne things constantly, waits for every opportunity to ask you overly personal questions, and gets very upset if you tell them you do not feel positive about them and to please stop, and then eventually after enough times confronting them they get outraged by your lack of interest and say FINE I'M DONE
@hugh I am not far off your mark here! The last century has been a big time for "human shaped statues put in high places so you instinctually revere them" and I don't know if this has been overall good for humanity.
@zackbatist You could definitely evaluate, like, maybe successful NEH grants? If they're public record and the agency consistently publishes them with budget, it would at least be a start! I'd be really interested to hear how that goes if you end up doing it.
I've been reading about sexual reproduction across species and you know what? I think it would be pretty convenient if humans were to develop an organ that females could use to store sperm for an indefinite amount of time, like spiders and insects do.
@zackbatist I sadly have found that people are very protective of their budgets and even if they share proposal copies they have not included that part. I always assumed it related to how sketchy everyone's accounting always is, because they have to fit human based research into those very arbitrary and peculiar requirements each institution sets (thinking specifically of "not paying local workers in cash"). That's probably a bit off topic sorry 😬
You'll be absolutely shocked to hear that people don't believe when any of us tell them that we can repair and resurface bronze and marble surfaces, even if there's a picture of them covered in paint. Literally the durability is why those materials are chosen for public statues???? Public art lives in the present. If you want it to be coddled, pay for its care in perpetuity in a museum.
I have reached the stage in my career where I stand up to people who misuse this as an excuse to do cruelty to poor people. It's even weirder to me when they have no reason for it at all, they just deeply believe that anything familiar should stay, and all statues that they remember being somewhere must be worshipped. Maybe we should have less human figure statues in general if this is what they do to people. It's grotesque.
