UK Artist Accidentally Turns Avengers #1 Into Papier-Mâché

[Mr. Q]

O_O HE WHAT?!?!


I'm sorry but I can't find the levity of this situation. In my world, destroying a comic book, especially a rare and valuable one, is a serious crime punishable by death! That's up there with defacing the Mona Lisa or any other classic work of art.

 

[Riobux]

"I really love the idea of me creating something out of such expensive things that's worth less," he said. "I think it's brilliant."

There's nothing "brilliant" about the idea. There's no valuable statement he was making with the concept, it was all an accident, and to be "amused" by the idea of turning such valuable and rare material into paper mache is... Guys, I don't like this guy.

Because the appropriate response is to scream, whine and cry at the turn of events. If you don't like people for laughing off mistakes, then at best I don't want to be around you when you make mistakes. At worst, you're a terrible human being with a high blood pressure.

I also find it interesting how people in this thread go around saying that his paper mache thing is not art but the paper drawing it was made from is one of the greatest pieces of art ever.
People here are also complaining how his work can't be called art while the very same people are trying to make games an art form which is frowned upon or ignored by most.
The irony! Being a minority in one form and still not understanding how other minorities think.

Welcome to The Escapist. This is what we do. We also applaud every research that shows no link between violence and video game and boo anyone who shows a link, ignoring the merits of the actual research it's self.

 

[Genocidicles]

Meh. If he hadn't turned them into that shitty sculpture then the comics would've ended up at the dump anyway.

The real fault lies with the guy who threw them away in the first place.

 

[Doom972]

That's what an artist has to say about destroying a work of art? "Brilliant"?

I would expect this from a regular idiot, but not from an artist (even an idiot one). I don't expect him to wallow in it, but he could at least show some remorse.

 

[Guffe]

I also find it interesting how people in this thread go around saying that his paper mache thing is not art but the paper drawing it was made from is one of the greatest pieces of art ever.
People here are also complaining how his work can't be called art while the very same people are trying to make games an art form which is frowned upon or ignored by most.
The irony! Being a minority in one form and still not understanding how other minorities think.

Welcome to The Escapist. This is what we do. We also applaud every research that shows no link between violence and video game and boo anyone who shows a link, ignoring the merits of the actual research it's self.

Haha!

Wouldn't go that far thou mate, I've been here long enough to see the tides come and go.

But this is the first thread were I actually see this sort of behaviour of the majority, maybe the comic thing was a weak spot that triggers the "anger" in many of us (Escapists)?

On the videogameviolence thing. I wouldn't say we disregard the research itself. I usually pop into the violence and videogame threads myself because I am interested in the subject. Usually people in those threads, what I've noticed, just say things like "this time it was this research, next week one will prove the other way" sort of comments. I think people have gotten tired of that thing already thou.

 

[lacktheknack]

If you're an unheard of artist, I would follow the stereotype and say that you're broke ... so when you find out that you just lost out on the chance at £20,000 you say "I think it's brilliant"? Fuck off, I think even Bill gates would say "that kinda sucks".

Well on the flipside at least in nerd - news he won't be that unheard of anymore. Granted comic book nerds are probably not his main customer base .

Quote screw! Reporting quote screw! D:

Mixed your quotes there, man.

 

[McShizzle]

Uggh, this thread reminds me why I usually can't stand nerds. Also, "Brilliant" is a regular turn of phrase in England. It doesn't literally mean brilliant, it's sort of like saying "Awesome" in North America. eg. "You tried one of those new sandwhiches at the deli? That's brilliant!."

 

[lacktheknack]

"I really love the idea of me creating something out of such expensive things that's worth less," he said. "I think it's brilliant."

There's nothing "brilliant" about the idea. There's no valuable statement he was making with the concept, it was all an accident, and to be "amused" by the idea of turning such valuable and rare material into paper mache is... Guys, I don't like this guy.

Because the appropriate response is to scream, whine and cry at the turn of events. If you don't like people for laughing off mistakes, then at best I don't want to be around you when you make mistakes. At worst, you're a terrible human being with a high blood pressure.

Because you can do one OR the other, right?

How about an "oops"? Or a "well, this is a bit tragic"? Or even just a stoneface?

Come on, dude. False dichotomy is the oldest trick in the book... and the stupidest. And the least necessary. Knock it off.

 

[Riobux]

"I really love the idea of me creating something out of such expensive things that's worth less," he said. "I think it's brilliant."

There's nothing "brilliant" about the idea. There's no valuable statement he was making with the concept, it was all an accident, and to be "amused" by the idea of turning such valuable and rare material into paper mache is... Guys, I don't like this guy.

Because the appropriate response is to scream, whine and cry at the turn of events. If you don't like people for laughing off mistakes, then at best I don't want to be around you when you make mistakes. At worst, you're a terrible human being with a high blood pressure.

Because you can do one OR the other, right?

How about an "oops"? Or a "well, this is a bit tragic"? Or even just a stoneface?

Come on, dude. False dichotomy is the oldest trick in the book... and the stupidest. And the least necessary. Knock it off.

If his reaction to something like "oh, I just used £20,000 worth of materials for an art project accidentally" is something as apathetic as you describe, then he's probably either autistic or a psychopath.

Haha!

Wouldn't go that far thou mate, I've been here long enough to see the tides come and go.

But this is the first thread were I actually see this sort of behaviour of the majority, maybe the comic thing was a weak spot that triggers the "anger" in many of us (Escapists)?

On the videogameviolence thing. I wouldn't say we disregard the research itself. I usually pop into the violence and videogame threads myself because I am interested in the subject. Usually people in those threads, what I've noticed, just say things like "this time it was this research, next week one will prove the other way" sort of comments. I think people have gotten tired of that thing already thou.

Honestly, I've tended to notice what I described. Maybe it's the vocal minority I notice and most are so deeply ingrained in apathy it makes Australians and English blush. Then again, the tediousness of the reporting of "omfg sumwun sayd vidya gayms cuaus violance" is something to marvel at.

 

[MetalMagpie]

When people do stuff like this, I just think, What a complete idiot. All you had to do was spend 5 seconds google searching before trashing something you had no idea what it was. And you'd have been richly rewarded for it. But no.

Idiot.

Do you Google every random magazine or newspaper edition you find before you throw it out?

If you find something in a skip, it's a reasonable assumption to make that it's not worth anything!

 

[lacktheknack]

"I really love the idea of me creating something out of such expensive things that's worth less," he said. "I think it's brilliant."

There's nothing "brilliant" about the idea. There's no valuable statement he was making with the concept, it was all an accident, and to be "amused" by the idea of turning such valuable and rare material into paper mache is... Guys, I don't like this guy.

Because the appropriate response is to scream, whine and cry at the turn of events. If you don't like people for laughing off mistakes, then at best I don't want to be around you when you make mistakes. At worst, you're a terrible human being with a high blood pressure.

Because you can do one OR the other, right?

How about an "oops"? Or a "well, this is a bit tragic"? Or even just a stoneface?

Come on, dude. False dichotomy is the oldest trick in the book... and the stupidest. And the least necessary. Knock it off.

If your reaction to something like "oh, I just used £20,000 worth of materials for an art project accidentally" is something as apathetic as you describe, then he's probably either autistic or a psychopath.

It's because he doesn't care about money.

If he DID care about money, then yes, I'd expect him to be clawing the walls. If he laughed it off at that point, then I'd expect him to be autistic or psychopathic at that point as well.

Context explains why he's not having a fit. Tact is why he shouldn't be just laughing it off.

But both of those concepts are entirely foreign to internet-dwellers, so I'm not sure why I expect people to consider them.

 

[MetalMagpie]

That's what an artist has to say about destroying a work of art? "Brilliant"?

I would expect this from a regular idiot, but not from an artist (even an idiot one). I don't expect him to wallow in it, but he could at least show some remorse.

Well if he hadn't picked them out of the skip they would have been thrown into landfill anyway. If anyone should be showing "remorse", it's whoever decided to throw them away!

I personally think it's hilarious. And I love that he took it in such good humour. Proper Brit.

Destroying something of value to make something worth nothing except "feels" is not the act of a "brilliant" man, it's the act of a fool.

I'm not sure where you're from, but in the UK we use the word "brilliant" very casually. A nice sandwich or a funny tweet can both be "brilliant". In this case, the situation of having accidentally used very expensive materials to produce something quite cheap appeals a lot to the British sense of humour.

I'm sorry but I can't find the levity of this situation. In my world, destroying a comic book, especially a rare and valuable one, is a serious crime punishable by death! That's up there with defacing the Mona Lisa or any other classic work of art.

Except there's only one copy of the Mona Lisa and there are loads of copies of comic books. Even Avengers #1 (the comic in question here) still has a number of other mint copies in existence.

Relax.

 

[Riobux]

But both of those concepts are entirely foreign to internet-dwellers, so I'm not sure why I expect people to consider them.

You should probably calm down on the elitism.

 

[Lightknight]

Wow, I wonder how much weed it took to be mellow enough to respond to this in that manner.

"Nah dude, I don't care about money, it's the art, maaaaan. The art."

I just wish the statue was... attractive. But I've never been a fan of paper mache though.

 

[Mojo]

It scares me, sometimes, what people will throw out...

My brother found a PC case in the garbage once, the mobo was broken, but the 2,66 Ghz Intel Core 2 Quad was working perfectly (and still is to this day.) That was a few years ago when they were still worth quite a bit. Also the case was fine too, even both fans on the side work and all. So yeah, I support what you said. I guess its better that he used the comic (even if he destroyed it) that that is was shredded, but I surely don't this destroying a piece of art (and pop culture history) is "brilliant".

 

[Guffe]

I see a lot of discussion about how this man's art should not be disrespected and how his art would somehow lose its value if it didn't have destroyed comics in it and blah-dee-blah-blah.

Guys, he makes paper mache sculptures. He's about as much of an artist as I was at age twelve, when I thought paper mache was the coolest thing ever. He's not some big wig modern artist, he's not a Renaissance master, he's a big child with strips of paper and glue. Sometimes I think this society has forgotten what "art" actually is, because they paint the definition with such a broad brush stroke that seemingly EVERYTHING is considered art now.

Simply put, the guy's an idiot, and he's pretentious to boot. He thinks it's "brilliant" that he destroyed valuable comics to make a worthless paper mache sculpture? What else do you call that but stupid? Destroying something of value to make something worth nothing except "feels" is not the act of a "brilliant" man, it's the act of a fool.

Wait a minute mate!
I'm not sure if you have read in this thread after your post, but I'll use a few examples of earlier posts here and my own thoughts...

So he makes sculptures out of paper mashe, you did it when you were twelve and liked it, hence it cannot be called art?
Here's a thought, what did I do when I was 12 and liked? I played instruments, painted, did sports, wrote stories, and made sculptures from different materials and a short stop motion movies in school. So all these cannot be called art because I once, as a child liked to do it? Dude, there are levels of everything, just because I painted or played football as a child doesn't mean someone can take it to the next level and be so good at it that other people find it amazing/interesting.
Take Lego sculptures for example, there are stuff out there built from lego I'd call art anyday over a lot other people call art I don't understand, for example!

What "art acutally is"?!! Yes please do tell me what art is. You mentioned the renaissance art, and modern art. I couldn't care less about the Mona Lisa, I find the sixteenth chapel cool thou, both are paintings, yet one I like and the other I have no idea why is famous (from a personal perspective). Art is what one person themselves defines as art, you're talking about defining art, on a website where the majority try to convice themselves that games should be an artform. What I see as art you can see as shit and vice versa.

I guess the Oxford dictionary isn't too bad to link to?
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/art?q=art
Here are the first words "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination"
I'd say that fits the description, he uses his imagination to create something, some people find it cool and "artsy".

I don't know what country you're from, but the man's from Britain, which means the word "brilliant" can be used in a different way than you apparently think he's using it. He doesn't imply that if he'd known the worth of something he found in a trash bin, he would've used it. It's more of a "damn, shit like this can happen" type of thing, just said in a more civil manner.

Now I know this got famous because of the avengers comic in it, that doesn't mean everyone should threathen to kill him (he got a few).