On Pamela Geller and the Mohammed cartoon event/shooting in Texas: When I was a kid we had a field trip to a Space Farms Zoo which also specialized in local Native American history and artifacts. A child from another school bought a replica (rubber tip) spear at the gift shop and was slowly inching it toward the butt of a bear leaning against the bars of its cage when his teacher intervened in the nick of time.
I thought of that when I heard about this Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas. Quite a bit of the arts explore free speech and pushing, probing its boundaries. Pamela Geller and her group are not art-affiliated in any way from what I've gathered. They are, however, cited by many as an anti-Islamic group organization. This is not Charlie Hebdo. This was a specific attempt, IMHO, to offend a religion and culture. Muslims are not supposed to make images of Mohammed and find it offensive when others do. In the No-Shit-Sherlock moment of the year, it was a given that there was going to be retaliation. As an artist, I'm offended that she used art for her and her group's ugliness, and they bear direct responsibility for people being shot at, and 2 people killed.
I thought of that when I heard about this Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas. Quite a bit of the arts explore free speech and pushing, probing its boundaries. Pamela Geller and her group are not art-affiliated in any way from what I've gathered. They are, however, cited by many as an anti-Islamic group organization. This is not Charlie Hebdo. This was a specific attempt, IMHO, to offend a religion and culture. Muslims are not supposed to make images of Mohammed and find it offensive when others do. In the No-Shit-Sherlock moment of the year, it was a given that there was going to be retaliation. As an artist, I'm offended that she used art for her and her group's ugliness, and they bear direct responsibility for people being shot at, and 2 people killed.
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