7 Berlin Artists Insist Their Lice is Art
May 2nd, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
What ever happen to quarantine?
Seven young, lice-infected (apparently intentionally), German artists are camping in the Bat Yam Museum in Israel for three weeks in an installation that is supposed to be art.
It seems the “work” is also controversial for its relation to “memories of Nazi propaganda that described Jews as ‘parasite’” (see here). One viewer thanked the artists “for making such a great statement against the fascist rhetoric of German history.”
The work is supposed to grapple with the idea of “hosting,” and one of the performers/artists explained, “The idea is that we live in the museum as their guests, and at the same time we are hosting lice on our heads.”
The only way it seems to me we could further inflate the significance of this piece is by throwing in a reference to the third biblical plague in Egypt (e.g. here).
Leora Says
This bugs me. Maybe this is a social statement that will make you itch I mean scratch your head in thought, but art?
May 4th, 2008 at 4:12 am