Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Do Staten Islanders love Scott LoBaido?

That's the premise of today's Advance piece.

Don't know who Scott LoBaido is?

Two words: American flags.

They are plastered all over the Island, sort of like living in North Korea, with LoBaido replacing Kim Jong-il as the almighty deity.

Now, he seems like a nice guy and all, but branding our entire Island as obsequious to his brand of uber-patriot art is a crude generalization at best, if not downright incorrect.

It all started when LoBaido made his initial mark on the New York City art scene by dragging a bag of horse shit to the Brooklyn Museum and proceeding to fling it at the public institution in protest of its Virgin Mary 'elephant dung' image - pretty cool, maybe, illegal, probably, exhibitionist, definitely.

He then crusaded against Mayor Bloomberg's effort to ban smoking in bars because (what heavy-drinking, cigarette smoker doesn't agree with this position) he likes to smoke in bars.

LoBaido's latest permanent stamp on Staten Island has been his ubiquitous American Flags - they're fucking everywhere. And the 'artwork' is so ingrained in our local culture that any other imagery seems to evoke the ire of local firefighters.

The Advance has embraced this patriot artist as representing the best and brightest of Staten Island. Documenting his every move like a local celebrity.

Why? What has he done for SI expect turn the boro into a Republican stereotype?

Far from advocating free speech his latest project, a Gadsden flag at the proposed site of a Muslim community center, is supposed to represent what - who the fuck knows? This is Staten Island, apparently consistency doesn't matter.

Wanna paint a flag? How about a Liberian one to respect the hundreds of refugees living in the Park Hill Projects?

What about trying to ease the tensions in Port Richmond by painting a Mexican flag to show that human dignity goes beyond petty partisan bloviating?

Some flags, fine. But so many American flags perpetuates the notion that anyone different doesn't belong here: Mexicans, Muslims, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Russians, Greeks, Serbians, Liberians - not to mention the second generation Italian and Irish.

Is he a nice guy? Sure. A good artist? Debatable. Does Staten Island love him? Hell, no - not the Staten Islanders we know, anyway.

2 comments:

  1. Scott's got an amazing eye and imagination, he's just a little shallow in the deeper end of the artistic pool, like his post 9/11 goat as a hero period. i turned against scott over the picture of giuliani and kerik as conquering warriors over the bar @ cargo. kerik's has been shown to be a corrupt piece of shit and giuliani is a notorious douche. i wish i had thrown shit at that soft-core porn masquerading as Art, 9/11 was a tragedy. He tried to handle complicated ideas and choked on them.
    I am completely for the american flags, and the pigeons eating people, anything but that political garbage. he should stay in the kiddy pool of artistic expression, instead of flinging crap at Art. if you can't make art with a capital A stick with the fancy graffiti/murals and derivative garbage.

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  2. yourpalsteve writes:

    I'm proud of Scott LoBaido. Why should he paint flags of Mexico, Muslim Nations, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Russia, Greece, Serbia, Liberia as you suggest? Hasn't anyone living here made the decision that they are an American? Scott LoBaido has made his nation and state proud --- and his borough --- just not every one of her residents it appears. Congratulations Scott. You have the "it" that made America the chosen destination of 90% of the world's people. GOD Bless the USA.

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