What is wrong with this picture? The State Department is planning to spend $400,000 in taxpayer funds to buy a sculpture for the new American embassy being built in Islamabad, Pakistan, according to contracting records. The work, by noted American artist John Baldessari, depicts a life-size white camel made of fiberglass staring in puzzlement at the eye of an oversize shiny needle — a not-so-subtle play on the New Testament phrase about the difficulty the wealthy have in entering the kingdom of heaven. Officials explained the decision to purchase the piece of art, titled Camel Contemplating Needle, in a four-page document justifying a sole source procurement. This artists product is uniquely qualified, the document explains. Public art which will be presented in the new embassy should reflect the values of a predominantly Islamist country, it says. (Like the Bible, the Quran uses the metaphor of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.) Found the story on the BBC
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 00:43:13 +0000
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