Busted in a stereotype! As the young woman giggled but grasped the breast of the statue, while staring at her friend behind the camera, it was an ‘um mah’ moment. Not that she was touching the breast. That was good thinking, as I agreed with them that her breast was delightful. Well done to the artist for indulging us all; a sawn off bolt over plate metal is easily transformed into nipple and breast …..
Um mah though cos for a moment I did think, “they can’t do that!” as I watched them from above on the stairway. They will get in so much trouble with their families if they are busted. Busted with their breast …..
Except then I remembered that women of Asian ancestry could actually be from anywhere, not only conservative families in south east Asia that I was associating them with. They might be world famous artists themselves. Or dropout New Yorkers wasting their college fund. Or Australians on a one year trip, phoning their parents nightly, before clubbing until 6am. Maybe lovers who view my generation who ‘came out’ in their 20s as old and staid and boring, a generation with a tendency to jump to conservative conclusions when looking at the younger generation! Or anything!
And just possibly they did come from an incredibly conservative family like the traditional families I know in Cambodia, which if so, means they must be doubly glad to be away from prying eyes of their relatives.
They clearly had no problems expressing their delight in the statue and their interpretation of her anatomy. I loved them and her in London.
http://www.publicartfund.org/pafweb/projects/08/jankowski/jankowski-08.html
