Saturn Devouring One of His Children

I much prefer this one to Goya's version. I saw it hanging in a stairwell in the Prado and it took my breath away.

The Old Guitarist

This is one of my favorite paintings. I like hanging it horizontally, so the old man's head is on the right side of the canvas. Picasso is one of many proofs to my theory about the unmistakable relationship between supreme creativity and our concept of insanity, framed by social and cultural definitions. I'll expound on that when I'm in a more motivated state of mind.

Mario and the Princess

Just thought this was a really cool rendering of the classic Nintendo couple. 

Coney Island Gets Controversial

On 12th Street off Surf Avenue, you'll bump into this side show. If you climb to the top of the concrete steps, put a dollar into the little hole that the red arrow is pointing to and peek through the barred window, you'll see something you probably wouldn't expect to see on Coney Island. The show, created by artist Steve Powers, is called the "Waterboard Thrill Ride," and depicts Spongebob on the outside wall getting waterboarded by Squidworth and exclaiming, "It don't Gitmo better!" Pretty provocative stuff.

Put your dollar into the slot and a reenactment of a torture scene comes alive before your curious little eyes. There's literally a guy in a black hood pouring water into the mouth and nostrils of a figure in an orange jumpsuit for fifteen seconds.


A few things intrigue me about this. First, the juxtaposition of the scene you're watching through the bars with the backdrop of kids, the beach, rides, and hot dogs is pretty striking. Same kind of idea behind using a popular and notoriously naive cartoon character to advertise the show. And third, the following statement made by the artist (published in the Times today): "What's more obscene, the official position that waterboarding is not torture, or our official position that it's a thrill ride?"

What do you think? Is this an inappropriate show for Coney Island? Is the artist somehow trivializing or exploiting the torture method and/or victims of waterboarding?