Update on Yesterday's Post

It is beginning to appear that the Yale art project referred to in yesterday's post is a hoax.  Because that makes it so much better.

From the Yale Office of Public Affairs:

Statement by Helaine S. Klasky — Yale University, Spokesperson
New Haven, Conn. — April 17, 2008
Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art. Her art project includes visual representations, a press release and other narrative materials. She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body.
She is an artist and has the right to express herself through performance art.
Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.

Even this is disturbing.  What, exactly, does "draw[ing] attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body" even mean?  Maybe that's why it's ambiguous, and that's why we need to bring it to discussion in this manner?  Is it really that ambiguous?

Yale has said that the piece is "a creative fiction."  In an H. G. Wells-like fashion?  This seems grossly inappropriate, even within the context of a "creative fiction."  For Ms. Shvarts has not operated with the realm of fiction, choosing instead to intentionally blur the lines between fact and fiction, between truth and falsehood.  And she continues to do so.  Her foolishness, apparently, knows no bounds.

We have built ourselves a culture that only responds to the shock factor. We have become numb and incapable of discussing "the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body" in a healthy, adult manner. Ms. Shvarts is merely a product of our times and our culture.  That does not absolve her of responsibility, but it should help us remember that we will only see more of the same in the future.

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool. Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools! Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool. Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by. As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

-Proverbs 26:1-12

What is, perhaps, more interesting is the ongoing conversation about this event and its coverage in the media.  Check out the comments in this NY Times article.  Repeatedly, the comment is made that this is actually boring and uninteresting.  Thus showeth the heartbeat of our culture.