Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Nicaragua or wherever you come from (The Ken Russell memorial blog post)

Our cultural discourse is increasingly determined by trends and memes and hashtags and newsflashes that turn out to be as ephemeral as a dragonfly’s farts. It’s as if you could miss an entire artistic movement while making a cup of tea. In that spirit, I have decided to start a band called Fenton Marmite and the Tram Racists. We aim to be entirely forgotten by the weekend. And the ironic revival starts in January.

But just to prove that something doesn’t need to be new to achieve a similar level of fickle notoriety: from my new favourite website, here’s the Lactation of St Bernard, painted in about 1480. Funny, isn’t it, that people still get so worked up about the supposed sacrileges committed by Ken Russell, when this sort of thing was sanctioned by the Church for decades?

4 comments:

Charles Edward Frith said...

She's trying to distract us from the UFO in the background that occasionally tips up.

http://j.mp/vBfvxs

Billy said...

You can't fault the Virgin's aim.

Anonymous said...

Garbage Pail Christ - yuk - excellent. But should that be Cabbage Patch Christ? (Hmmm not sure...)

Tim F said...

That's been clear ever since Dr Who wrote THIS IS A FAKE on the back of the Mona Lisa, Charles.

The making's of a fine spin bowler, Billy.

Is that a matter for God or Mammon, Charles?