Fishy Art Causes Explosive Stink

Right up front, I admit I’m not now or ever have been an art critic. That said, it seems to me the words art and dead fish don’t seem to belong in the same sentence, much less the same art gallery. 

Yet, there’s an “artist” who has a piece of art made of rotting fish. And there’s a gallery in London that put it on display last spring.

Or tried.

Seems the fish (fishes? there were a lot of them) didn’t like being put on display and just up and exploded. Hmmm, now what would cause a display of rotting fish to explode?

Before the cause, what about the why?

Why would anyone think rotting fish a good idea for a piece of art? I can’t for the life of me figure out how anyone can make a piece of art from something that falls apart with a
stink that comes on fast and keeps getting worse. 

And the how…

How long did it take the artist to sew on the beads and sequins? How long was it before his mother/significant other let him back in the house? How many times did he have to wash his hands to get rid of the fish stink? And did any of it accidentally get near his mouth, like say when he rubbed his hand on his itchy nose?

Ewww.

Why did “art experts” ooh and ah over the rotten fish picture and stick it in an art gallery for folks to come and look at? 

Or not. 

Seems this fishy display hit New York’s Museum of Modern Art back in 1997, but the smell made visitors so sick it was out the door with the flashy fish.

Roll the clock forward 20 years and a gallery in London thinks “let’s try that again.” This time, the fish were wrapped in individual plastic bags and a chemical was added to mask the stink. BUT it also increased the flammability of other materials—like duh, the gasses coming off rotting fish. 

Which are now trapped by plastic bags.

Or not.
The London gallery got a heads up that maybe adding that chemical to the fish wasn’t a good idea. They decided to remove the fish art, but waited too long and 

BAM!

The fishy art exploded.

I can’t help but wonder: 

1. Were these the same fish the artist used in the 1997 show?
2. Who had to clean up the fishy mess? 
3. How long di the gallery smell of fish?


But mostly, I think just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

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