Art or Bad Idea Jeans?

Brooklyn artist Kerry Skarbakka staged repeated falls at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art for photographs meant to be an "artistic response" to September 11. Skarbakka wore a harness under a suit as he fell from the four story building, and told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Falling is such a metaphor for life in general. Mentally, physically and emotionally, from day to day, we fall. Even walking is falling: You take a step, fall and catch yourself." Of course, New Yorkers have some reason to take issue with this. The Daily News tells Skarbakka to "jump in a lake" and speaks to some victims' relatives, who say things like, "My friends jumped out of buildings and it wasn't an art form. It was a last resort" and "Just because as an artist you're free to do something doesn't mean it's any good." And the Mayor, a patron of the arts, called it "nauseating offensive." Gothamist isn't totally sure how we feel; it's Skarbakka's right to be an artist in any way he wants - it's not like we have to like it - but we're also sensitive to that strange, strange day. It's definitely an interesting approach to a terrible topic, but is it still too soon? There are so many things we could say, like, Skarbakka could have taken these photos in a studio, or maybe we shouldn't be so touchy. Gothamist thinks it interesting that New Yorkers, some of the toughest people in the world, are still so raw.

A Daily News columnist calls Skarbakka a phony. And director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu's entry in the film, 11'09"01, an international collaboration on the events of September 11, used footage of the falling bodies from the World Trade Center to creepy but provocative effect.

Image from Chicago's ABC 7

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on June 16, 2005 12:38 PM

Comments [rss]

Kerry Skarbakka

I have read all you webblogs and e-mails and not one of you has asked me to tell my side of the story. I have only received directed comments. If you want to go on talking out there using misinformation as your guide, then you are all being used by this media attack.

I will tell you and anyone else who asks. I was taken completely out of context in Chicago, by a tabloid newspaper. It is simply what happened. I went to Chicago to the Museum of Contemporary Art, to stage photographs for the public. It was my first public perfomance shoot. It was about making photographs. It was never intended to reference anything to do with 9-11 and I said so and then I tried to say so again and again and again, but people won't listen when they are angry.

I have been working on this body of work for three years and nobody has batted an eyelash, I am supported by two major institutions in New York City that will stand by me and my work. Why would they care less than you? I just got caught between a camera's lense and a few choice words picked up by someone looking to make a story. Many people have been affected by this yellow journalism and I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen to me.

I was showing the Chicago public, how I make my work and that my work over the years has been dedicated to investigating the meaning of falling. It was a response to the our world that had changed so dramatically that day and many days later. It is about the futility of war and our inablility to do much about it. It is about being late on your bills and feeling so frusturated at the all the other things that are out of control. Let that be your guide to what I was trying to say. I never once said the work was to represent or imitate 9-11, not once and will never. The newspapers made that up.

I stand by my work and whatever I did in Chicago. I do not agree with the press and its manipulation of what alot of people enjoyed. I am sure I could get them to e-mail you if you are not convinced. However, I am not trying to convince you. I am only trying to get you to think more about the world around you and how easy it is to slip between the cracks, or get shoved into the eye of an oncoming public. It is so easy and I feel terrible for the families that had their wounds re-opened because of a sensationalist newspaper. The images the news showed were not my images. They are responsible for this, not me. I am sorry you are so angry but if you would try not listening to what the news tells you all the time, you might actually learn about the world you live in. You can't believe everything you read in the newspapers. I have been wronged, the city of New York has been wronged and more importantly, the victims of 9-11 have been wronged. (you have been wronged)

I have respected what you have said to me, please try to see it from my side.

Thank you for your responses

sk

Just found out that the artist has been working on a longtime series of falling images...in forests, off bridges, over water, etc....so this is completely unrelated to the WTC event, he says, but as it was his first fall in public, people got to see and misinterpret it. The end product of his work is a photography series on falling. I thought some of the other images were very compelling and he has an interesting concept overall.....moral of the story though....don't fall in public, yo.

Kath

Yawn. Just an example of using cheap sensationalism to sell bogus "art".

bklynd

Of course, if our local media hadn't shown the spotlight on this "outrage" then nobody would care. It's not like the work is really so newsworthy.

dhex

there does seem to be this insane desire to blot out some aspects of that day...i hadn't heard of the other two installations being pulled (mentioned at the bottom of the DN article).

that's sort of strange, really. it's going to only get worse as it becomes an acceptable movie topic.

Tim N.

I'm not sure I like his art, or see the point of it, but it is his art and as an artist, he has an obligation to express it. Part of the mission of an artist is to piss people off, challenge what they think is acceptable, bring them into confrontation with what's in their heads and hearts and souls. We can argue whether people want to, or need to, be re-acquainted with what they went through on the eleventh, but that doesn't take away from the fact that, if he's sincere about it, what he's doing is art. Disagreeable art, yeah, probably, but art.

What always bothers me about these type of events or displays or happenings is the coverage always takes on a "see, all artists really are assholes" tone. The DN today is a good example.

branwen

that's a ridiculous stunt. doesn't mean he doesn't have a right to do it, but it shock value alone also doesn't necessarily equate to artistic merit.

S.D.

dhex, a fair question. I don't see How is it Art, but it could be me.

IMO, I think it's offensive to many (me!) because of the reminders and link to 9/11. When does someone Fall from a Building unless it's because they jumped or they were thrown out?

Does Kerry Skarbakka conside the Scene where Riggs in "Lethal Weapon" jumps out onto an AirBag "Art"?

feuilletons

For someone who was actually there, it wasn't a "strange, strange day" -- it was a terrifying day, it was a catastrophic day. It wasn't a Jim Jarmusch film.

dhex

maybe i'm a bit stupid today - quite possible, of course - but i don't quite see what's so offensive about what he's doing. it's not like he's making a joke out of it, even if his explanation of falling in the context of life seems half-dumb..

S.D.

why did he need to go all the way to chicago to do this, I wonder.........

Not safe to do it here? Probably would Not get a Permit (Not sure what permit you'd need, Film Maybe?)

Nigel

why did he need to go all the way to chicago to do this, I wonder.........

T.A.

Also, I really, really hope you're not implying there's some mystery as to why people still get jangled when Sept. 11 comes up. It doesn't seem terribly hard to figure out. Here's a hint: it has nothing to do with being tough.

S.D.

IMO, repeat: IMO, He's an insentive idiot in dire need of attention. Since when is a cheap stunt "Art"?

T.A.

I think the artist misses the point: It's not the fact that people "fell" out of the towers that requires remembrance or response -- it's the horrendous circumstances that forced them to choose such horrible "falls" in the first place.

Rose

I don't know, maybe he's trying to bring up those raw emotions again to make us think about how safe he is while he falls as compared to what happened to those killed on that day. It can make it seem more real to some people. I really don't know if this is good or bad. But it reminds me of a recent newspaper story that stated that the father of a University of Delaware student who was raped and murdered was a long time advocate against the death penalty until his daughter was killed.