Recent arts coverage:
- At Mexic-Arte Museum, “31K Portraits for Peace” highlights hope
- At AMOA-Arthouse Laguna Gloria, small is the new big
- ‘Failed States:’ Artist-witness creates exhibit in response to shooting at Texas Capitol
- Austin Lyric Opera, music school formally quit
More arts coverage | Follow this blog on Twitter @artsinaustin | Read recent arts reviews
Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2007 > September > 11 > Entry
We didn’t mean literally
Things got a little frisky at the Blanton Museum of Art’s B Scene Friday night. Seems one patron took the giveaways that accompany the new exhibit ‘Mike’s World: Michael Smith & Joshua White’ a little too literally.
See, artist and UT professor Michael Smith has over the course of his 30-year artistic career developed an alter ego ‘Mike’ — a endearing but hapless dude who optimistically strives for the Next Big Thing, but never seems to get it. Convinced that our computer age means more lounging around in a private utopia, ‘Mike’ conceives of a multimedia information kiosk that admonishes everyone to ‘Take Off Your Pants!’ After all, you’ll be doing nothing but sitting around in your underwear at the computer anyway.
And so to augment the installation in ‘Mike’s World,’ yellow lapel buttons emblazoned with ‘Take Off Your Pants’ are given away to exhibit viewers. But Friday night, sources say, one man decided that it would be good to actually take off his pants at the B Scene.
UT police and Blanton officials thought otherwise and the man was asked to leave, which he did. With his pants on, we understand.
(“Take Off Your Pants,” photo from installation. Michael Smith & Joshua White, 2005.)
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.
By Pants Pants Revolution
September 12, 2007 12:29 PM | Link to this
I can’t believe they asked him to leave. After all, he was just doing what they told him to do.
By David Wyatt
September 11, 2007 3:02 PM | Link to this
Priceless. This is what happens when you keep Austin weird.