Selfie Statue In Sugar Land, Texas Sparks Backlash

Megalith

Megalith

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What’s worse—the statue, or the people complaining about it? At least I learned that it costs $10,000 just to install one of these things, which seems outrageous.

Some residents of Sugar Land, Texas, say they've been left with a bitter taste in their mouths after a city-approved selfie statue was recently erected outside City Hall. The statue features two smiling women in a slight stooping stance, with one holding a cellphone, arm outstretched, to snap a picture of themselves. Some residents took to social media to voice their outrage after word went out — mistakenly — that the city paid for the monuments as part of a beautification project. "I'm salty [expletive] about that 'selfie' statue in Sugar Land," one man tweeted. "Who approved that s---?" "I'm embarrassed for everyone," a woman commented on Twitter.
 
$10,000 for that? I can see why people are pissed. That's a lot of wasted tax revenue. It doesn't even look good.


Reminds me of this:

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There was probably a meeting that most of these people didn't bother to attend where this was decided by the city council. Sugar Land is kind of a yuppie area anyway the statue kind of fits.
 
If only the linked article mentioned prominently the fact that the statues were donated...even if the city paid for the installation, who cares? Is it really so ridiculous for a city to display art?

And what the fuck is narcissistic about two apparently happy people taking a picture of themselves?

Slow news day + assholes = nonstory story.

ETA: The relatively affluent suburb in which I live has sculptures all over the place. I see someone enjoying them at least once every day I'm on our "main street." Whatever contribution (if any) I'm making to that through taxes seems well worth it to me.
 
kledar586 said:
There was probably a meeting that most of these people didn't bother to attend where this was decided by the city council. Sugar Land is kind of a yuppie area anyway the statue kind of fits.
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Live in Sugar Land. Everyone hates it. Watch them start installing tacky modern art crap next... ugh.

What they forgot to ask themselves, is what is the purpose of a monument. Usually its to celebrate, inspire, or commemorate a significant event or at least is just beautiful from an aesthetic standpoint. Narcissistic vapid selfie culture is not inspirational, should not be celebrated, is not what Texas is about, and isn't attractive.
 
If my tax dollars were used for something like that, I would be annoyed too. Turns out is was donated and only installation and upkeep will be at the taxpayers expense. I would still be somewhat annoyed, but a lot less than if the city had commissioned and paid for it.
It seems well made, and skillfully done. I just see no point in commemorating the selfie, so it's value as art to me is pretty low.
 
Where did this idea come from that statuary should be "commemorative?" The selfie statue captures a moment - a moment with which anyone (certainly anyone under 25) can identify. It's not narcissistic (I'm pretty sure every usage of that word in regard to this statue stems from a lack of understanding of the word's definition); it's indicative of the good time these two people are apparently having.

I hope I never get so grumpy as those who seemingly can't comprehend this statue.
 
ah the old selfie generation, cant remember they had a good time so must constantly take pictures of themselves whilst having one.
 
I would take a selfie with the statue taking a selfie.. mind blown!!
 
City will not maintain them, will all be covered in bird shit shortly.
 
Meh, people need to lighten the fuck up. It's just a statue.

It's not as if selfies are some sort of affront to humanity or something like that. The statue is harmless.

I could probably think of better things to do for a city with $10k, but in the grand scheme of things that's only 12 cents per person in Sugarland.
 
We need to raise taxes more, so politicians can spend it on more stupid crap. Spending other peoples money is really easy, this statue proves it. Politicians and governments look at people as only one thing MGU "money generating unit"
 
Ducman69 said:
What they forgot to ask themselves, is what is the purpose of a monument. Usually its to celebrate, inspire, or commemorate a significant event or at least is just beautiful from an aesthetic standpoint.
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Not every statue is a monument.

I think this one captures the current zeitgeist pretty well, and thus acts as a statement of our time.

The reaction of people in Sugarland to this statue make me feel pretty certain that it is a horrible place to live, full of the same type of stuck up idiots who have a collective freakout if someone in their gated community paints their house the wrong shade of green...


Ducman69 said:
is not what Texas is about, and isn't attractive.
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Lol, what is Texas about anyway? Usually it's just a state dedicated to being our national embarrassment and caricature abroad. :p


texas.jpg
 
CaptNumbNutz said:
$10,000 for that? I can see why people are pissed. That's a lot of wasted tax revenue. It doesn't even look good.
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kledar586 said:
There was probably a meeting that most of these people didn't bother to attend where this was decided by the city council. Sugar Land is kind of a yuppie area anyway the statue kind of fits.
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mullet said:
We need to raise taxes more, so politicians can spend it on more stupid crap. Spending other peoples money is really easy, this statue proves it. Politicians and governments look at people as only one thing MGU "money generating unit"
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That's three people who haven't read the article or the thread to find out no government or taxpayer was spent on this statue. Can we have some more?
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
It's not as if selfies are some sort of affront to humanity or something like that. The statue is harmless.
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Selfies are some sort of affront to humanity! :) I admit my cousin once took a selfie that I was reluctantly complicit in. I'm ashamed too.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I think this one captures the current zeitgeist pretty well, and thus acts as a statement of our time.
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There are a lot of unfortunate things that are common in society. Perhaps next to them, we can have a statue of an overweight purple haired feminist screaming while holding up a sign that says "Patriarchy = Rape".
Zarathustra[H] said:
The reaction of people in Sugarland to this statue make me feel pretty certain that it is a horrible place to live, full of the same type of stuck up idiots who have a collective freakout if someone in their gated community paints their house the wrong shade of green...
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CNN Money recently rated Sugar Land # 3 nationally in best place to live. Also, BUILD THE WALL!
That's three people who haven't read the article or the thread to find out no government or taxpayer was spent on this statue.
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The art was donated, the installation was not.
 
Ducman69 said:
Narcissistic vapid selfie culture is not inspirational, should not be celebrated, is not what Texas is about, and isn't attractive.
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I find this supremely ironic given the amount of pride Texas has for itself, often bordering narcissistic.
 
Nolan7689 said:
I find this supremely ironic given the amount of pride Texas has for itself, often bordering narcissistic.
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I don't think that word means what you think it means. Texan pride, like nationalism, is about believing in your community as a whole being greater and more important than yourself. Its the opposite of selfie-culture.

We have a lot of douchebags in Texas, just like anywhere else, but we shouldn't celebrate them with statues. There are a lot better heroes and ideas/symbols to bronze.
Teenyman45 said:
Around Sugar Land?
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Soon... :D
 
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I see there are lots of old farts bitching about youth culture here. I honestly don't get all the fuss. IT's not like you weren't taking pictures of the family at locations or asking someone to take your picture at those spots....selfies are essentially the same thing.

Now go to your office and build a really cool PC with awesome wiring that nobody will ever look at (unless you post a picture on [H])
 
At least these were donated pieces. Here in OK, a new state govt IT data center building had to allocate something like 2% of the building's cost to 'art'. What got installed looks like 3 large trashcan lids on edge. The only folks that will ever visit that building are IT folks as it is blocks from the main capitol complex.
 
Well, when I think of selfies I picture some vapid idiot doing a duckface. Idiocracy is happening people.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the state was modelled off of the donator's relatives.

This would much funnier if they were sporting duck face though.
 
Would it have been more innocent if they were holding a Polaroid instead? Selfie's are not anything new, maybe just the pervasiveness is.

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The bottom four would have at least commemorated a great movie, actors, director, and not sure who the other one is.

LOL, I really don't care, since it is not my tax dollars, but it is the people of Sugar Land's tax monies, so they do have at least a right to complain.

I do think it possible that people may be taking the art wrong. It may just be commemorating a happy moment in time for two women, and not selfies. The selfie craze has sort of annoyed a lot of people. Though to be fair, a lot of things cell phone related have.
 
This is the beauty of the statue. It will get people involved and it will get people talking about it. Isn't that really the purpose of a statue? To get people interested. If you have a statue that no one ever looks at, then what was the point? This is going to get attention for many many years.....so I think it has served it's purposed.

*sorry, this androgynous person was the only picture I could find that proved my point*

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apparently when women get together for a picture, gravity gets a lot stronger. Their poor legs and back!
 
Am I the only one that sees this as a nice statue, shows a point in time where we developed a technology that allowed this? I have maybe 5-10 photos of me growing up because of film and "you have to wait until it's full to develop". It is art, it will be appreciated by some and hated by others it is its very nature. But does calling people narcissistic make you a better person or does that satisfy something inside yourself to put down others? I would rather be labeled for taking photos of happy moments in my life than to be so bitter that everything that younger people do that I do not just irritates me.
 
If this statue is all they have to get riled up about they should take the blinders off. Houston is a total shit hole.
 
That's just guaranteed to age poorly, making statues of current fads is a surefire way to end up with a laughable eyesore in 10 years or less.
 
westrock2000 said:
Would it have been more innocent if they were holding a Polaroid instead? Selfie's are not anything new, maybe just the pervasiveness is.

1923012_orig.jpg


e4d2e0574efec9de4424254c0ae6d270.jpg
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Exactly. The main difference is that now it's WYSIWYG, whereas before it was a guess and you hoped it worked out (especially if you didn't have a Polaroid camera)
 
Quix said:
That's just guaranteed to age poorly, making statues of current fads is a surefire way to end up with a laughable eyesore in 10 years or less.
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History shows that old farts (i.e. virtually everyone on this forum) are poorly equipped to determine what is a fad and what is not, see Rock music and virtually every cutting edge artist. I remember when Disco sucked and it was "big now but it's going to fade away," but the reality is it never went away. The cultured though Rite of Spring was a travesty and as I recall there were riots.....today it's a classic.

I really don't get the hate. It's a nice looking sculpture and unless mobile phones with cameras are going away, the selfie isn't going anywhere. The duck face, OTOH, will likely die.
 
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