ARTIST SAM Mahon has painted a picture of John Key as a corpse and made it part of an interactive game on his website called, “Who killed John Key?”
Mahon, who calls himself a socialist, says he hopes the image “will simply make people curious”. He wants to “put a bunch of ‘Key crtimes’ on to one ring,” he told the Sunday Star Times.
“The painting shows Key’s body slumped against a wall in an alley with a rifled wallet beside him. A half-empty wine bottle, a rat and a half-eaten apple are among the detritus nearby.
Viewers are invited to discover Key’s “killer” by viewing 24 video clues embedded on the picture, most of which are interviews with Key taken from the web. People who guess the killer will be eligible for prizes including a Mahon cast bronze of a dying dove (
“a metaphor for dying hopes”).
Asked if he was worried that people would find the image offensive, Mahon said: “All art is expression and metaphor and the job artists have is to make people feel uncomfortable. Now once you’ve made people uncomfortable you’ve got their attention. And once you’ve got their attention you can begin to change their mind.”
The image will be put on Mahon’s website tomorrow and the names of those who guessed the killer will be posted on election day, Novemberr 26.
Story by Anthony Hubbard (abridged) Sunday Star Times. Page 1, November 13, 2011
Comment: One of the objects of the SPCS is:
“To support responsible freedom of expression which does not injure the public good be degrading, dehumanising or demeaning individuals or classes of people.” (S. 2[f] of SPCS Constitution).
The Society contends that the vast majority of New Zealanders would consider Sam Mahon’s image of our Prime Minister John Key and its use in an “interact game” on his website, as outlined above, highly offensive. It deliberately seeks to degrade, dehumanise and demean John Key over the next few weeks leading up to the elections.
I presume our politicians are part if the community, and are to be scrutinised for their standards by the SPCS, yet John Key’s lies and deceit and his government’s anti social activities have not been commented on, as far as I know, by your organisation. The National government and it’s actions are far more offensive than this genuine attempt by Sam Mahon to prompt debate on the issue. Moralism can be just another form of fascism and a great cover for narrow minded bigotry. On Saturday night I changed channels on the TV and, without warning, was faced with an image of a woman with her throat cut from ear to ear, for my entertainment. It was not put there for my enlightenment. That is highly offensive to me. I rarely hear the sound of tambourines banged on that issue.
The John Key image is obviously an art work, its purpose is morally justified. There is no part of the image that even approaches the violent filth we are exposed to every night on television, and there is no part of the message that intends harm or exploitation. There is, though, a lot of harm and exploitation of the community by Key and his government.
Further I think it is inappropriate for your society to contend anything about the views of “most New Zealanders” given that, in the few hours that the web site has been open, you could not possibly have gleaned enough comments to sustain your argument.