There's lots of Sweish politics going on here: this is going viral because Swedish nationalists are pissed that she's cutting off state funding for their newspaper, so they're sending this around as a "gotcha!" moment.
― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 16:54 (twelve years ago) link
saw an episode of baseball wives where one wife gets another wife a realistic looking porcupine cake or something that also had red cake inside
― dayo, Tuesday, April 17, 2012 12:51 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Steel Magnolias has a bit about the groom's cake at a wedding being in the shape of a giant armadillo with grey icing and blood red cake. Maybe the b-ball wives were spoofing that. Sounds p similar.
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 17:03 (twelve years ago) link
100% with aero here; my guess is that the cake itself is a piece of very transgressive and extreme performance art that somehow has federal funding. The original article linked to though only blocks out one of the 'g's in n----- and seems to have some sort of vendetta against one of the attendants for cutting funding to a nationalist newspaper who is known for spouting off 'racist' beliefs, so I'm actually wondering if the article itself is actually more racist than the cake...?
― when will Jesus bring the composition chops? (loves laboured breathing), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
yeah TWU otm xxp. Like as shocking as the cake is, it is probably akin to like The Swans playing at George HW Bush's Inaugural Ball
― when will Jesus bring the composition chops? (loves laboured breathing), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 17:08 (twelve years ago) link
As far as I can tell, Fria Tider (the website linked to above) is a right-wing Sweedish Nationalist news organisation.
― HE HATES THESE CANS (Austerity Ponies), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 17:14 (twelve years ago) link
The URL made the cake sound like it came from Niger.
― pplains, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 17:29 (twelve years ago) link
that's what I was expecting
in retrospect, I don't really know why; possibly the clearest example of my subconscious blatantly lying to me in order to preserve my sanity I've had in a while
― an independent online phenomenon (DJP), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 17:30 (twelve years ago) link
just popped up on my tumblr and figured it was relevant here wrt makode's race:
http://thankyoubasedsantorum.tumblr.com/post/21272281605Apparently Makode (the artist behind "Painful Cake") is not a woman.
Can everyone see how this is not okay?
Look, we talk all the time about how black women’s pain is often co-opted or turned into a gimmick for white people’s goals—and we’ve even had great discussion about how people of color will do the same to black people. This is one of those times. I don’t know about Makode’s make-up, but I know they are not white. And this is bullshit.
At the end of the day, I don’t care what they were doing or what they thought they were going to accomplish—they put painful history of black women’s pain (not starting with but including the Venus Hottentot) on display for white people to “teach” them about said pain. I can’t even begin to describe how truly fucked up that is, and how it enrages me. Even within POC spaces, black women are at the bottom of the totem pole. Our pain is hung out to dry for the benefit of white people and when it backfires, it is even more worthless. If it can’t even be used for teaching fodder, what good is it?
I don’t care who Makode is; they are not for us. If they meant to shock, they could have done it with trivializing the pain of black women. If they meant to teach, they could’ve done so another way. I’m tired of our history supposedly being used for the benefit of other POC. Makode was allowed to be there, probably paid, invited to sit under a table and scream for the laughter and enjoyment of white people. That’s all it was. It didn’t do shit.
― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:17 (twelve years ago) link
i'm glad i read this thread because having just seen the photo/read the article i was entirely ooooo_0000000
well, i still am, but less kneejerk condemnatory now that i know the political and artistic context, which i think a lot of those outraged tumblrers would do well to find out about.
god the phrase "POC" really gets no better.
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:26 (twelve years ago) link
well, the article was super suspect just from the headline; that alone made me think there was more going on than those still pictures could convey (the video amplified that even more)
― an independent online phenomenon (DJP), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:31 (twelve years ago) link
which i think a lot of those outraged tumblrers would do well to find out about.
lol @ yr assumption that they don't
― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:35 (twelve years ago) link
yeah learning that the newspaper was a right wing one made things make much more sense - if swedish newspapers of that kind are anything like british ones, they'll probably target modern art at every given opportunity, and conflate using offensive imagery with actually being offensive while pretending the context doesn't exist
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:35 (twelve years ago) link
xp it's right in the paragraph you quoted
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:37 (twelve years ago) link
I'm not sure how to feel about Makode Linde's performance/conceptual piece. It's clearly transgressive, deeply unsettling, awful in many ways, but it's not entirely without substance.
Perhaps the only acceptable response is to condemn Linde, as the author of that wonderfully named blog does, for representing something other than his own "designated group" and/or personal experience. That's the safest strategy, based on the idea that we're all allowed to comment on ourselves, on the group(s) to which we seemingly belong, and on those we see as our oppressors - but everybody else is off-limits. By this standard, a man simply isn't entitled to make gross, transgressive art about female genital mutilation in Africa, regardless of his race or intent.
This is at least a coherent and morally sensible position. But i don't know... I agree to a large extent and this is pretty much how I try to handle these issues in my own life, but at the same time, I'm somewhat bothered by the puritanical and legalistically rigid nature of this approach.
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:38 (twelve years ago) link
^ i'm responding there to the thankyoubasedsantorum.tumblr that zachylon linked
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:40 (twelve years ago) link
lex "i don't care" does not mean "i don't know"
― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
I think the point made by that Tumblr is more that it was an appropriation of an experience that wasn't his and presented in a manner almost guaranteed to be offensive and misunderstood, showing a profound lack of empathy for the issues meant to be addressed by the piece in the first place.
Like, it's okay to talk about female genital mutilation in Africa, but it's not really okay to make yourself into a screaming edible cake if you want the issue to be taken seriously.
― an independent online phenomenon (DJP), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:43 (twelve years ago) link
where is Issues That Can Be Addressed by Screaming Edible Cake poll
― Jilly Boel and the Eltones (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:45 (twelve years ago) link
Guess I'll have to come up with something else besides my Anne Frank Strawberry Shortcake Surprise for NPR's next remote at the University.
― pplains, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
esp given the nature of a lot of performance art, which is as much about the issue as it is the identity of the performer. it's not really possible for him to separate the two when he goes about it like this. xp to DJP
― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:48 (twelve years ago) link
he could have had plausible separation had he hired a woman to be the head of the cake, I think
― an independent online phenomenon (DJP), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:50 (twelve years ago) link
am I the only one who was reminded of this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucNYLsjKaTQ
― Jilly Boel and the Eltones (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:52 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, i get that, but i don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with art that is "almost guaranteed to be offensive and misunderstood", and "a profound lack of empathy" is very much in the eye of the beholder. when you take it down to basic principles, the blogger's problem is that, while linde may be black, he is not a woman, and his piece is therefore unjustifiable. if linde were a black woman, then her criticisms wouldn't hold. her headline makes this very clear:
Apparently Makode (the artist behind “Painful Cake”) is not a woman.
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:53 (twelve years ago) link
yeah maybe, or better yet, if it were a collaborative piece involving a black woman artist
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:54 (twelve years ago) link
or maybe they could've even found/paid one of the probably-countless women of color who could just as well have created a notable piece of art about FGM in africa (sexism is everywhere y'all)
― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:56 (twelve years ago) link
lol xp
well obviously; my point was more about "what would make Makode's screaming mutilation cake more acceptable" than "what would be an acceptable performance art piece on genital mutilation"
― an independent online phenomenon (DJP), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:59 (twelve years ago) link
what exactly is wrong with this tho, or are you just on some "this is reverse sexism!" shit
and anyway, if you read more of that blog in particular you'll find older posts that are still decrying the cake, before the blogger learned linde's gender. i just posted that one because it was relevant to the discussion here.
― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 18:59 (twelve years ago) link
Do you post false dichotomies because you were beaten as a child, or are you a child beater?
― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:05 (twelve years ago) link
lol
― an independent online phenomenon (DJP), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:06 (twelve years ago) link
i don't think there is anything wrong with this. i do have some (soft) reservations about this sort of thinking when it becomes a set of hard-and-fast rules. it's not the moral principles i object to, as they seem quite sound, but rather the rigidity and seeming puritanism of the stance.
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:08 (twelve years ago) link
you see it as rigidity, but i read that post and i see a lot of logical reasoning as to why this specific case is fucked. there's a precedent and a history of this type of stuff, and the blog was responding to it. not necessarily saying that men of color can never create art that centers on women of color, just that this piece of art is an example of going about it wrong.
when it comes down to it, from what i can tell, the cake thing has succeeded in A) offending/hurting women of color and B) making white people laugh. from any vantage point, hard to call it a success imo
― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:14 (twelve years ago) link
oh hey it's a zillion post argument about whether that's obviously totally fucked and offensive is fucked and offensive
― Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:18 (twelve years ago) link
i think we're speaking at cross purposes. i agree with the blogger's criticism of this piece. i generally agree with the principles in which her criticisms are grounded. otoh, i have some vague reservations about the way those basically good principles are sometimes (or perhaps just could be) applied. that's all. not trying to stir up an argument or claim "reverse sexism" or any such bullshit. just exploring some tangents.
fwiw, i read the laughter in that video as a sign of discomfort more than jollity. not that that really matters much.
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:27 (twelve years ago) link
I read the laughter in that video as a sign that people don't take screaming cakes seriously as a medium for making a political point.
― an independent online phenomenon (DJP), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:30 (twelve years ago) link
well maybe we can at least all agree that artists are the fucking worst.
― Fook Lee (Matt P), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:32 (twelve years ago) link
not always, but sometimes they really are.
― Fook Lee (Matt P), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:33 (twelve years ago) link
"Haha, well, this is certainly making me feel uncomfortable!""Because it raises your awareness of female genital mutilations in Africa?""…um, yes. ………. ……. No."
― pplains, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:33 (twelve years ago) link
Are the laughing women in on the 'joke'?
― L'ennui, cette maladie de tous les (Michael White), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:36 (twelve years ago) link
people like makode linde are the absolute worst and i sincerely wish he had the balls to have himself butchered in public, that's obviously what he wants. one of those pathetic self-absorbed twats who live to spread themselves like a virus and use everything and everyone they can to do so.
― Fook Lee (Matt P), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:48 (twelve years ago) link
*closes facebook page*
where my tea at
― Fook Lee (Matt P), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:49 (twelve years ago) link
really doesn't like artists
― lou reed scott walker monks niagra (chinavision!), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:50 (twelve years ago) link
not braying racist fame whore hypocrites who love being artists because it validates their every fart no. even if they're aware of it!
― Fook Lee (Matt P), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 19:53 (twelve years ago) link
you know, that cake is pretty well crafted
― goole, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:02 (twelve years ago) link
― Fook Lee (Matt P), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
I can think of a lot better ways to get the word out about FGM than this stunt. What's particularly egregious here is that this was supposed to be art (hence my question whether the laughing ppl were 'in on the joke', i.e. active participants) but it seems to be the kind of art that causes less light than heat in the end and it has a disturbing smugness to it. To what real extent do Swedes need additional info on African FGM? Is this a learning moment for ppl at right-wing Swedish newspapers or just sub-par trolling?
― L'ennui, cette maladie de tous les (Michael White), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:07 (twelve years ago) link
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/396530_10150574858234684_400133822_n.jpg
Natalie Ferraroi love your work. thank you for being brave and thoughtful and creative about how we look at atrocities.Like · · 24 minutes ago near Los Angeles, CA
Martin FredrikssonThis piece of art is painful, absurd, abusive. And pain, absurdity and abuse should preferably take place somewhere else, where we don't have to see it. I think all the hate that is thrown at the artist now is becoming part of the piece of art itself, showing how selective people can be in what they let bother them, and what we can just ignore. We are all having a slice of this cake every day, but we usually don't have to hear the desperate horror while we carve it out. I'm disturbed, puzzled.Like · · 51 minutes agoMichelle Heugh-Joseph likes this.
Ekene DanielSell out. You disgust me!Like · · 54 minutes agoMichelle Heugh-Joseph likes this.
Victoria HoltI also think it's really sad that you're deleting some people's comments. Art is about a conversation, and you SURE started one. So own up and take the hate, you deserve it!Like · · 59 minutes agoMichelle Heugh-Joseph likes this.
Didier Pandotu te crois malin ? conard !!! https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s320x320/540280_208772595904058_100003139573389_346865_770455583_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s320x320/540280_208772595904058_100003139573389fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.netLike · · Share · about an hour ago
Dwayne JacksonI get it. You were raised with nothing but white people, so you think this IS art?!? DUDE you are fucked up. Why don't you go lay in a tub of bleach. Put your head under, and INHALE. That way you can be what you want inside and out.Like · · about an hour ago2 people like this.
Ismail MahomedThere are three elements to making good art: AestheticsResponsibilityTruthYou fail dismally at all three!!!Like · · about an hour ago via mobile4 people like this.
Chad Gardnerit looks like voodoo art yes/noLike · · about an hour ago
― Fook Lee (Matt P), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago) link
racist?
don't see much evidence of racism in linde's work
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:12 (twelve years ago) link
We are all having a slice of this cake every day, but we usually don't have to hear the desperate horror while we carve it out. I'm disturbed, puzzled.
What if we are all diabetic.
― pplains, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:13 (twelve years ago) link