UCLA Profs Resign

[Kennedy 0]

This was too funny not to share.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145150,00.html

Quote

2 UCLA Profs Quit Over Gun Incident
Saturday, January 22, 2005

LOS ANGELES — Two tenured art professors have resigned from the University of California, Los Angeles, because the school refused to suspend a graduate student who may have used a gun during a classroom performance art piece.

Chris Burden and Nancy Rubins, internationally known artists who taught at UCLA for more than two decades, filed their retirement papers Dec. 20.

"They feel this was sort of domestic terrorism. There should have been more outrage and a firmer response," said Sarah Watson, a director at a Beverly Hills gallery that represents the couple.

In the brief performance on Nov. 29, the student appeared to point a loaded handgun at his head and pull the trigger, a student and law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times.

Maybe if they educated themselves about guns instead of demonizing them, they'd realize that if he pointed a loaded gun at his head and pulled the trigger, we wouldn't have to worry about any kind of suspension. Idiots.

Domestic terrorism. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[Tailgate 0]

I always try to remember that College Profs live in the insulated world of academia and usually have no concept of reality.

_________________________________________________
Let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man- Sam Walter Foss

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

Two art professors have resigned from the University of California because the school refused to suspend a graduate student who may have used a gun during a classroom performance art piece.

Good riddance to 'em.

Of course, if he had melted some guns down into barely recognizable lumps and made art out of those, then these professors would have praised the work.

It's funny how those who promote "tolerance", practice so little of it for those who think different from them.

[lawrocket 3]

Let's take a look at who this Chris Burden guy is. He, himself, has used a gun in his performance art! How did he use it? By actually getting shot in the name of performance art!! Why? HE was exploring the theme of "personal danger" as art.

"His most well-known act from [the 1970's] is perhaps the performance piece "Shoot" that was made in F Space in Santa Ana, CA in 1971, in which he was shot in his right arm by an assistant from a distance of around five meters. Other performances from the same period were "Five Day Locker Piece" from 1971, "Deadman" from 1972 and "Fire Roll" from 1973." - cite - from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Burden

And now this cat has the audacity to resign because of the display of a gun? Mind you, shooting wasn't part of the bad performance, unlike the noble professor's performance.

What about Nancy Rubins? Oh, she's his wife. They didn't mention that part, eh???

edited for spelling: My son was trying to help me type that last sentence.

also edited to say: Maybe Burden resigned because he was, in fact, accusing the kid of plagiarism, and bad plagiarism, at that, and that UCLA was gonna let the cheat get away with it.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[GeorgiaDon 362]

So if I have read the article correctly this guy put the gun to his head and appeared to pull the trigger. If I witnessed that and wasn't given a heads-up before hand I would have been extremely traumatized. You might consider that, at pretty much any University of any size, there are a number of real suicides every year. It seems clear to me that the intent, or at least the effect, of this piece of "performance art" was to scare the shit out of anyone who wasn't in on the "joke". But then again, they did use a gun so I suppose that makes it all OK.

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[GeorgiaDon 362]

Well now i'm a college professor and I hear this all the time, and I often wonder who's version of "reality" applies here. I've able to get to the DZ once in the last three months because, between running a research lab, supervising several graduate students and technicians, writing grants to generate the funding to keep them all employed, writing and publishing papers, reviewing other peoples manuscripts and grant proposals, oh and yes teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, I just don't seem to be able to get it all done in less than 60-70 hrs/week. All the other college professors I know personally work at least as hard. So if your reality includes weekends off so you can jump or whatever, I'll take your "reality" thank you very much.

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[Michele 1]

Jer, they *do* seem to have missed that stuff in their article....I wonder if plagiarism could be counted in performance art? I know the parameters elsewhere, just not "performance art."

Give the little man a hug for me.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Casurf1978 0]

First let me say I'm all for law abiding individuals having firearms, but if i was a prof I would be pissed as hell. One it's illegal to have any firearm on campus at UCLA and two what if the weapon was accidently loaded and this guy blew his head off. The latter is unlikely, but mistakes happen. Can you comprehend the legal shit storm UCLA would be in if an accident occurred.

[freeflight 0]

"the student appeared to point a loaded handgun at his head and pull the trigger"

strangely they don't go into details as to what were the consequences of this little project. it is definitely tasteless, talentless, even stupid.
art or not, if someone wants to surprise everybody by walking around on campus wrapped in explosives, i hope that some cop will shoot the dumb fk.
although, proffesors reaction sounds like they belong on fox news.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

First let me say I'm all for law abiding individuals having firearms, but if i was a prof I would be pissed as hell. One it's illegal to have any firearm on campus at UCLA and two what if the weapon was accidently loaded and this guy blew his head off. The latter is unlikely, but mistakes happen. Can you comprehend the legal shit storm UCLA would be in if an accident occurred.

*unlikely* ??

Try totally impossible. You don't think the guy wouldn't check his OWN gun for rounds before doing such a stunt? He's a grad student - that suggests an IQ at least above 110. The closest screwup to this was the Brandon Lee death, and if you watch how many times he was shot with blanks in the movie, it's easier to see how it could go bad.

Story isn't clear, but I wonder if it was in fact a real gun, rather than a stunt prop. Lots of fake beretta 92s, as seen in pairs with Chow Yun Fat, are loose in hollywood.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

Quote

Well now i'm a college professor

Shouldn't have said that, many on this site never made it past that part of your first sentence. They have now for ever labeled you typical liberal scum, whose opinion matters now.

[Ron 10]

One of these jackass actually got shot for art, but quit over someone pretending to shoot himself?

Anyone see the total BS there?

It is OK for him to actually be shot for art, but thats where it ends...

What a fuckstick.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Mirage63 0]

Quote

I just don't seem to be able to get it all done in less than 60-70 hrs/week. All the other college professors I know personally work at least as hard. So if your reality includes weekends off so you can jump or whatever, I'll take your "reality" thank you very much.

Well I had college professor's who were great, top notch. I also had some who were worthless. The fact that ALL of the other college professors you seem to know work the extended hours that you work makes me believe that you have a very, very small group of friends (professors) or that your statement is more defensive than fact.

Besides 70 hrs is "only" 14 hr days, five days a week. Get to work earlier, stay later and you'll be able to jump like the rest of us.

[billvon 2,991]

When I was going to school, that would have caused an uproar - because students did kill themselves there on a regular basis, using everything from handguns to poison to 20 stories worth of gravity. It would be like an airline pilot joking on the PA that he was going to fly into the Empire State Building shortly after 9/11.

[Casurf1978 0]

Quote

One of these jackass actually got shot for art, but quit over someone pretending to shoot himself?

Anyone see the total BS there?

It is OK for him to actually be shot for art, but thats where it ends...

What a fuckstick.

Theres more to it than that. The prof who got shot for art only did this 'art' in front of a group of people in a safe and controlled environment where the audience knew what was going to happen, i.e., some was gonna get shot. This student basically went on stage pulled a gun out (prop or real doesnt matter) put a 'bullet' in it, put it to his head and then pulled the trigger. No one in the class nor the Prof knew what was going on. As an audience member how would you react if at a school art show someone walks up on stage precedes to pull a gun, load it, point it at his head, pull the trigger then runs off stage after which you hear what might sound like a gun shot. All this is going on w/o you knowing it was staged.


More info on it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-profs22jan22,0,2966361.story

[lawrocket 3]

Quote

No one in the class nor the Prof knew what was going on. As an audience member how would you react if at a school art show someone walks up on stage precedes to pull a gun, load it, point it at his head, pull the trigger then runs off stage after which you hear what might sound like a gun shot. All this is going on w/o you knowing it was staged.

So, are you saying that what the student did was not "art?" Why is it not art? Because people didn't know what was going on? Did it lack any artistic merit?

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Botellines 0]

Without the whole story and the requirements of his assignement we cannot say wether it was apropiate or not. My guess is that not, but it is only my guess.
In any case there has to be some limits to what art is.
Some time ago there was an international modern art exhibition, and the spanish representation didn´t finish to set everything up before the first visitors arrived. The funny thing is that those first visitors thought that the dirty bucket, the stairs and the tool box was part of the art piece...
In any case, unless his goal was to provoke fear among evrybody, he could have told everybody what his intentions were.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

So, are you saying that what the student did was not "art?" Why is it not art? Because people didn't know what was going on? Did it lack any artistic merit?

Seems like it's coming awfully close to the classic example of shouting "FIRE" in the crowded theater. If the audience isn't ready for something dramatic, they may all bolt in a panic.

[Jimbo 0]

Quote

As an audience member how would you react if at a school art show someone walks up on stage precedes to pull a gun, load it, point it at his head, pull the trigger then runs off stage after which you hear what might sound like a gun shot. All this is going on w/o you knowing it was staged.

Yes, God forbid he scare someone.

Personally I think that the depiction of someone committing suicide is sick, but that's no reason to condom the man, is it? Where's that tolerance the left is always preaching?

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Quote

One of these jackass actually got shot for art, but quit over someone pretending to shoot himself?

Anyone see the total BS there?

It is OK for him to actually be shot for art, but thats where it ends...

What a fuckstick.

I kinda agree. If the Prof was pissed that the kid did it off school grounds? Yea, the guy is an idiot who has some goofy double standards.

The student wasn't smart for bringing a real gun to the campus. He broke the established rules. I can understand someone having a problem with that. He could have brought in a fake gun and if he was a good enough actor there would have been suspension of disbelief.

Calling it domestic terrorism? Go figure the former performer is big on drama. Quitting over this? This seems like they are having a pissing contest over who can create the most press.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[freeflight 0]

***
"They have now for ever labeled you typical liberal scum"

who's they?

[Tailgate 0]

Ok, I will admit that I painted with too broad a brush. I shall amend this to not include all professors.

My experience has been that many professors ( especially in the arts ) suffer from the symptoms in my first post.

I also recall many history, english and education profs that didn't even have office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They lived in their insulated world and did not care to venture out.

_________________________________________________
Let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man- Sam Walter Foss

[Ron 10]

Quote

Theres more to it than that. The prof who got shot for art only did this 'art' in front of a group of people in a safe and controlled environment where the audience knew what was going to happen, i.e., some was gonna get shot

Yes, there is a big difference. One person was actually shot. The other did a performance for shock value.

The real idiot was the guy that actually choose to get shot. And then years later quit cause someone managed to scare him.

The student is not the smartest tool in the shed, but the jackass that actually choose to get shot and then cry when someone else pulls a similar stunt is still the biggest moron.

The professor is just trying to get attention.

Let him quit.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334