Giant sex toy or Christmas tree? Paris baffled and outraged (VIDEO)
A giant green Christmas tree designed by a US artist was erected in a Paris square, but city residents say the artwork resembles a sex toy. Some outraged people even attempted to deflate the sculpture.
The 24-meter-tall sculpture by American artist Paul McCarthy, was
erected in the Place Vendome in the center of Paris.
According to McCarthy, the “Tree” installed for the International
Contemporary Art Fair (FIAC) scheduled October 23 to the 26 in
Paris, is “an abstract work.”
“It all started with a joke. Originally, I thought that a
butt plug had a shape similar to the sculptures of [Romanian
artist] Constantin Brâncusi. Afterwards, I realized that it
looked like a Christmas tree,” he told French Le Monde. “People can be
offended if they want to think of it as a plug, but for me it is
more of an abstraction.”
However, some Parisians say the artwork looks like a 'butt plug',
a sex toy inserted into the anus. Definitely not a Christmas
tree!
"I'll get right to it, for me it's a plug! But hey, you can
see other things, but certainly not a tree as some claim,” a
local man told Ruptly.
"This is one of the most beautiful squares in Paris - I like
contemporary art, that is not the problem, but this work ugly, I
find the color ugly, I find it violent at this location,” a
local woman added.
Godzilla coughs in Paris, dislodges buttplug RT @ParisZigZag Très bon cru pour la fiac 2014 si vous voulez notre avis pic.twitter.com/dUMehY9xJq
— Jofy (@sir_jody) October 16, 2014
McCarthy was reportedly attacked by a man who hit him three times
in the face and told him, “you're not French and the work has
no place on the square.”
The hashtag #PlugGate has recently appeared in social media.
Hyperallergic, a Brooklyn-based arts blog called the sculpture
"Paul McCarthy's XXXmas Tree."
Un plug anal géant de 24 m de haut vient d'être installé place Vendôme ! Place #Vendome défigurée ! Paris humilié ! pic.twitter.com/vv7fzZWC62
— Printemps Français (@nelachonsrien) October 16, 2014
Twitter also burst with outrageous remarks about the ‘sex toy
Christmas Tree.’
"A giant 24-metre tall butt plug
has just been set up at Place Vendôme! Place Vendôme disfigured!
Paris humiliated!" wrote the Printemps Français, a
right-wing pressure group.
Paul McCarthy's XXXmas Tree Plugs Up Paris - http://t.co/beuZNobLJ1
— hyperallergic (@hyperallergic) October 18, 2014
In the meantime, the organizers of the festival said they had
received a green light from the city authorities.
“This work received all the
necessary authorizations: the Prefecture de Police, Paris Town
Hall, the Ministry of Culture and the Comité Vendôme, which
represents the business owners on the square,”FIAC Artistic
Director Jennifer Flay told Le Monde. “What’s art good for if not to disturb,
raise questions, to reveal the weaknesses in society?”
Sorry Paris town planners but I'm not seeing a Christmas tree. pic.twitter.com/wDeMBFsEc1
— You had one job (@_youhadonejob) October 16, 2014
To those giggling at the fact the Paris Christmas tree looks like a buttplug, I suggest googling the artists work (Paul McCarthy).
— Huw Lemmey (@spitzenprodukte) October 17, 2014
On Saturday, however, it was reported that somebody tried to deflate the inflammable sculpture cutting the cables the "Tree" was kept in place with. It was left slumped on the pavement.
"Individuals waited until the security guard's attention was
elsewhere and cut the cable that kept the sculpture in
place," a police source told AFP. “The inflated work
slumped down."
Police said they will resurrect the ‘Tree’ as soon as possible.
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McCarthy's Tree a wee bit too ballsy for some; apparently a gang untethered it last night, not even 48 hrs after installation. But Art does not accept defeat; already in process of re-inflation. Power to the plug!
@-webkit-keyframes"dkaXkpbBxI"{ 0%{opacity:0.5;} 50%{opacity:1;} 100%{opacity:0.5;} } @keyframes"dkaXkpbBxI"{ 0%{opacity:0.5;} 50%{opacity:1;} 100%{opacity:0.5;} }
The Tree sculpture in Paris is not the only controversial work by
McCarthy. In 2001, he created 'Santa Claus' for the city of
Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which was called by the town
residents as a 'Butt Plug Gnome'.
In 2009, in an exhibition called "White Snow", he
featured Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in sexual
situations.
