Traditionally, statues are erected to honor people, things, or ideas of note that have contributed something valuable and/or memorable to humanity. Traditionally, selfie takers aren't placed in that category. One Texas city begs to differ, however.
The city of Sugar Land, Texas recently received a donation of bronze statues from a resident that are currently being placed in various locations. Two were placed in the Town Square Plaza and meant to show activities that often occur there, one being of a guitar player and the other of two girls taking a selfie in front of City Hall. The backlash came quickly.
https://twitter.com/MariahGermain/status/736969386884370433
I personally see two sides to this. There's absolutely the more obvious take on the situation: it's a silly statute that is borderline offensive in its immortalization of an activity that's widely considered vain and annoying. On the other hand, there's no arguing that selfies are an integral part of our culture, and this statue isn't immortalizing the vanity of the act so much as the sharing of a moment between two people in front of a prominent structure. At least, I would assume that was the intention in placing it there. Perhaps that intention was too muddled or misguided, however. It seems that the ire that the selfie draws may have overshadowed it as the instrument of a moment and turned it into the moment itself.
What are your thoughts? Is the statue inappropriate? Or is it properly acknowledging how we often capture and share moments in today's age?
Lead image by Flickr user Travis Wise, used under Creative Commons.
[via Click 2 Houston]
This is yet another sign of the Apocalypse.
The end is near
I’m amused that the complainers have profile pictures that could very well have been taken by the girls in the statue. Pot, meet kettle.
Can't help but notice that all those tweets are from girls who have a selfie as their display photo...
Irony?
certain type of narcissistic person does not like others displaying their narcism. That is as old as human history itself.
Um... I think it's just supposed to be comedic? People so serious... gawwdddd
Here is a public park in Korea dedicated to toilets and poop.
http://kotaku.com/5923416/korea-gets-a-theme-park-dedicated-to-toilets-a...
That being said, totally understand your point ;) Cheers,
I think people will find just about anything to complain about.
Thought I'd provide some local commentary. I live about a 10 minute walk from this statue and have lived in Sugar Land for several years. The statue itself is very well done and is part of a larger art direction going on in the city, which is having different statues depicting activities that residents partake in. For example, at Oyster Creek park, about 2 miles down highway 6 from the selfie statue, there are several bronze statues of a couple sitting on a bench, children playing in the grass, an alligator next to the creek, and a brother and sister on a skateboard and roller blades. From the perspective, having a statue of 2 girls taking a selfie at town center is absolutely in line with other statues in the area.
Thank you, sir!
I'd bet their PR firm to drive tourism thought of this, just didn't think about the residential backlash was possible... I get the idea though, and it would drive tourism just to see it cause no body else has this type of statue in this context. So it is a plus in my opinion.
This is both hilarious and terrifying.
Thank you, Chris for the local insight. Wish they would have made the statue out of the good looking couple in the feature picture for this article. Might have alleviated some of the displeasure over the statue!
I think there is some confusion here over what statues are. It seems all the complainers are saying that it must commemorate something. But that isn't necessarily so. As art they could also be to start conversations and/or make a statement about our culture. If that is the case, they succeed.
Just remember, not far away is a way worse statue... and 80ft tall white concrete statue of a "hero"..