He adds “A number of works in the exhibition have already courted controversy. Artists have always commented on social and political issues and the students of today are no exception. Pornography, terrorism and animal cruelty are all dealt with in this exhibition. Sensitive issues during sensitive times.”
The Royal Scottish Academy does not censor nor advise upon any of the works submitted.
ALAN BENNIE
In response to any criticism towards my piece, "Mickey's Taliban
Adventures," I would like to make the following statement;
I certainly realise that my work has displeased and, in cases, insulted
members of the public, as I knew it would whilst making the piece, but am
genuinely surprised at the scale of the controversy the piece has generated.
The events of September 11th constitute a great tragedy, the biggest which I
have known in my lifetime, but I will not apologise for putting across my
views through my work. The work is intended to show that although many
innocent lifes were lost, America is not so innocent a country. It is known
that the American government trained Osama Bin Laden and funded the Al
Queda, but as soon as a tradegy such as this occurs, this is forgotten. It
then turns into a media fuelled pantomime with the evil villain lurking in
the background, ready to destroy all the good in the world. Osama Bin Laden
is certainly an evil man, but for anyone to believe the world is so black
and white is being naive. The reason for the inclusion of Mickey Mouse, and
the subsequent design of the cartoon-style buldings, is one that, for me, is
representative of America, in the same way that, perhaps, Coca-cola is
percieved as being all-American. How many times do you hear America
described as having a 'Mickey Mouse government?' There has always been a
view of America as a land where you can achieve anything, following 'the
American dream' etc, this being the reason that the piece is of soft toy
style, showing the unreal, cartoonish percepions of American life. There is
certainly no direct attack on Disney or Mickey Mouse present in the work.
I would like to add, that it is my belief as an artist that the boundaries
in art should always be pushed forward. I would like to thank the Royal
Scottish Academy for showing the sculpture, knowing that it would perhaps
receive critisicism for doing so. In a world where the media can repeatedly
show horrific images of such tragedies, I find it quite amazing that a piece
of art-work can generate so much controversy and I hope that others, as well as myself, continue to make art which is challenges the viewer.
Feb 2004
JOCK MOONEY “Goodbye Mouse”
A film of a very sensitive nature, that captures the dying moments of a mouse on screen.
I want to make it crystal clear that I have not poisoned the mouse in this film, I have never poisoned animals or laid traps. I found the mouse in the stairwell of my flat and was obviously moved by what I saw; moved enough to film an image which when presented in a gallery forces the viewer to confront themselves with the hypocritical attitude that exists towards rodents.
A photograph of a mouse is cute, but when one is urinating all over someone’s kitchen the traps are set and the poison put out. People do this everyday and never see the actual reality; poisoning is, as<
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