KU picks up American flag modified in the public art on campus after the criticism of the governor, other | News, Sports, Jobs

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A congressional candidate from Kansas is pronounced against a public art project at the University of Kansas, decrying the work as a "disfigured American flag" that is disrespectful of the military.

Steve Watkins, a veteran and Republican nominee of the 2nd Congressional District of Kansas, severely criticized the university in a statement Tuesday for his exhibition of "Untitled (Flag 2)," a work of art and culture. German artist Josephine Meckseper. The flag, which looks like the American flag but with additional images, is the latest in a series of flags to fly over the KU campus in recent months, brought to KU as part of a national project baptized Pledges of Allegiance.

On Wednesday afternoon, the governor of Kansas joined the critics and "demanded" that the flag be demolished.

"The disrespectful display of a desecrated American flag on the campus of KU is absolutely unacceptable.Men and women fought and bled for this flag and use it in this way I have contacted Chancellor KU Doug Girod and the President of the Board of Regents, Blake Flanders, to express my disappointment that a taxpayer-funded institution would allow such a display of our sacred flag, and I ask that it be demolished immediately, "said Governor Jeff Colyer in a press release.

photo by: Associated Press

A Work of Art Titled Untitled (Flag 2), on the campus of the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kan., On Wednesday, July 11, 2018. It is part of a series of flags that have flown on Lawrence's campus over the last few months as part of a national art project. (AP Photo / Orlin Wagner)

Watkins' statement makes no mention of the public art project or the context that underlies it, although it recognizes that it is an artist who has created the flag.

"To those who would trample, burn or disfigure the flag, thank a soldier," began Watkins' statement. "It hurts me to see a disfigured flag flying at the University of Kansas."

In his statement, Watkins referred to fallen soldiers and the symbolism of the American flag.

"My thoughts turn to my friends who were hiding coffins in our flag," he said. "I'm sorry that a Kansan defeats our symbol of strength, unity and patriotism."

Custom sky for the bottom of this our final flag, by Josephine Meckseper, in the #pledgesofallegiance series w / @SpencerMuseum . So powerful to remember all the partnerships and events that came from this 8 month experience during the breeding this morning! @creativetime pic.twitter.com/M3iI2tLare

– The Commons (@TheCommonsKU) July 5, 2018

The flag artist, Meckseper, was commissioned by Creative Time, a non-profit public arts organization based in New York, to create the play as part of the group's "Pledges of Allegiance" project. She is based in New York, and it is unclear if she has ever resided in Kansas.

KU is one of 11 institutions spread across 14 sites across the country participating in the "Allegiance Commitments," whose creators say "aims to inspire a sense of community among cultural institutions" in the political climate of division of the country. Spencer Museum of Art and The Commons of KU have teamed up to host the project at KU.

According to a statement released by the university last fall, each participating artist was responsible for "addressing an issue that the artist is passionate about and talking about how the country could go. from the front collectively. "

In an artist statement On the Creative Time website, Meckseper described his work as a collage of the American flag" and one of my drained paintings that resembles the contours of the United States."

"I split the shape of the country in two for the flag The design reflects a deeply polarized country in which a president publicly boasts of harassing women and withdraws from the Kyoto Protocol and the Human Rights Council. the UN man, "she said.

The black and white sock in the lower left corner of the room "takes on a new symbolic meaning in the light of the recent imprisonment of immigrant children at the border," Meckseper said, continuing "Let's not forget that we all come from somewhere and are just recent occupants of this country – indigenous cultures have been better able to take care of this continent for thousands of years before us. time that our differences unite us rather than divide us. "

Watkins, in his statement, stated that the American flag" represents the lives sacrificed to protect the very rights used to destroy it. "

no requests from the artist, from the university administration, or from students, other than this – thanks a soldier, "said Watkins.

Meckseper's play is the last of 16 flags created for the project "Pledges of Allegiance ", launched at KU in November and will continue until July 30th. It was installed on the KU campus near The Commons at Spooner Hall just last week. After being commented, Elizabeth Kanost, Spencer Museum spokesperson, declined to comment and referred all questions about the art project to the director of news and media relations at the university, Erinn Barcomb-Peterson , who responded later Wednesday morning. His statement did not address Watkins' criticisms, but provided some context behind the Pledges of Allegiance project, including information on project funding.

"Pledges of Allegiance" is a national public art project. Work has increased on July 5 and is located in 13 locations across the country. It is funded with private money, "wrote Barcomb-Peterson in an email. At the beginning of the project, the Rhode Island Museum of Art, the Herbert F. Johnson Art Museum of Cornell and the Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art, among others, included the Spencer Museum of Art. Art and the Commons. "

The Spencer Museum, however, reacted to criticisms of the work Tuesday on Twitter:

The purpose of the series is to spark discussion on topics of national importance. The current flag is from the artist Josephine Meckseper, and he addresses the division in the United States The black color field is an abstract representation of the United States divided into two parts.

– SpencerMuseum of Art (@SpencerMuseum) July 11, 2018