Posted on 12/07/2013 5:58:00 AM PST by bryan999
Washington (AFP) - The US State Department on Friday fended off criticism for commissioning a $1 million sculpture for its London embassy, saying it was "a good use of our limited resources."
The piece by Irish-born artist Sean Scully was purchased as part of the department's Art in Embassies program and will be reportedly installed at the new mission due to open in 2017.
"This piece was purchased under the market price after considerable negotiation with both the artist and the gallery. This is an important part of our diplomatic presence overseas," deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
Abstract artist Scully, who became an American citizen in 1983, lives in New York and has twice been nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize.
The Art in Embassies program had "played a leading role in US public diplomacy" for the past 50 years, Harf said.
"Where we can promote cross-cultural understanding... we think that's a good use of our limited resources," Harf told journalists.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
If Hellary and Skerry turn into pillars of salt, we can call it even.
Are you shittin’ me ?
It kind of looks like a hacked and mangled up rock version of an American flag.
Pretty lame all around. Bad art, bad decisions.
It’s Sharia compliant so that is okay.
Like much “public art”...it is BS. What a complete waste of taxpayer money. Complete.
Indeed, that’s the sculpture.
But look what we did buy with your tax dollars.
“The piece by Irish-born artist Sean Scully”—”Where we can promote cross-cultural understanding... we think that’s a good use of our limited resources,”
I didn’t think we had much difficulty in understanding the Irish. Doesn’t Biden have a home in Ireland? I don’t understand Biden any better because of a pile of bricks. Wait a minute...
I should like to sell the government a pile of bricks, being a TEA Party fan I believe it would promote cultural understanding. Heck, I could pay off everything with that kind of money with most of left to stash in a bank.
It’s a pile of rocks.
Two factors were most likely at work here:
- First, spend any money left in the budget so next year’s baseline budget will keep going up,
- And second, spend it on a friend. I wonder who got the commission on the sale and how large it was?
I wondered who dug that out of my garbage.
Oops—I think it is Dodd who bought the house in Ireland. I don’t think the bricks help me understand him any better either.
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