Parisians freak out over giant inflatable butt plug

[WillParkinson]

http://jezebel.com/paris-humiliated-by-gigantic-inflatable-butt-plug-1647345304

It's supposed to be a tree! a tree!

Parisians everywhere (who are members of the far-right group "French Spring&quot are scandalized by an art installation that is "supposed" to be a tree but appears to everyone (including you, me and even my grandma who has no idea what a butt plug is) as a toy that is meant to pleasure the inside of one's anus by blocking it with an object of considerable length and girth.

The artist, Paul McCarthy, says that his sculpture isn't a butt plug, but according to The Daily Mail, he's also known for his provocative art, like fun animatronic sculptures of George W. Bush fucking pigs. Perhaps the conceit of the project here (and I am not an art scholar, so bear with me) is that he conceptualized the giant butt plug (and the accompanying giant butt plugs you can see, including sculptures of santa holding butt plugs because...) as a provocative object meant to get a reaction and turn it around on the viewer.

[petronius]

1. I was 100% willing to see a tree - I committed to seeing a tree before clicking - I

gave every last bit of effort to see a tree - but that's not a tree...

[gvstn]

6. +1000

[Matariki]

13. lol

No. Definitely not a tree

[cali]

2. *shrug*

tree, butt plug, whatever. It does nothing for me as art. and all I ask of art is that it shift my perspective.

[Xipe Totec]

3. The anus is on them to prove it's a butt plug

I mean onus.

[AwakeAtLast]

15. LOL, DUzy!

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Oh, great. Rush Limbaugh has showed up there, too?

Damn. No city is immune.

[beam me up scottie]

7. !

[Initech]

5. I didn't know that Bryan Fischer could show up in trees!

[Historic NY]

8. Oh Lord....

[surrealAmerican]

9. Ok, so it's not a tree, but ...

... given the size of the thing, there's no butt big enough to call it a plug.

[adirondacker]

10. French Kiss...

[Autumn]

11. Okay so I'm seeing a butt plug, shaped like an gigantic inflatable christmas tree,

not a good christmas tree mind you just a generic christmas tree.

[d_r]

12. I'll post some pictures before they pull the plug

[2naSalit]

14. Okay...

until now I had never heard of a "butt plug" and was wondering how someone could be confused about the difference between one of those and an alleged tree... whatever a "butt plug" was supposed to be in the first place...?

Butt Wow, that is just weird regardless of whatever it is supposed to be, doesn't qualify as art in the eye of this beholder.

Yikes.

[AwakeAtLast]

16. That is a genius right there!

From the article:

"It's a tree," McCarthy might say to a disgruntled Parisian conservative who is angry that this is where the city's taxes are going. "If you see a butt plug, well then that's your own issue, you know? That's just like your opinion, man. And for someone who's so against gay marriage, why are you so worried about ass play anyway?"

Genius!

[Crunchy Frog]

17. French people being scandalized? That's a new one.

Meh, I don't consider realistic portrayals of our former President to be particularly provocative.

[Behind the Aegis]

18. Pat Robertson responds!

Finally, a replacement for his head!

[petronius]

19. Disaster!!1! (Or should I say 'dis-ass-ter')

A controversial green art installation on Paris' tony Place Vendome has been taken down after being vandalized overnight.

The inflatable sculpture called "Tree" vaguely resembled a Christmas tree but evoked for others, including its creator, the artist Paul McCarthy, a giant anal sex toy.

...

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Paris-sculpture-removed-after-vandals-strike-5831616.php#photo-7017487


(Caveat: despite my sense of amusement at the whole story, I in no way support or condone vandalism. Perhaps particularly vandalism that squelches uncomfortable art...)