2005
Mr Young
I came across some of your sculpture, & without beating around the bush - & just as your own PR describes it - I found it extremely repellent. How amusing this must be for you
I find your 'work' a great sabotage of anything meaningful but I must congratulate you on your working of public opinion or your command of 'spin'. It is a great coup to give people (who probably deserve it) a sense aesthetics which admires garbage. You seem to be saying that art is no more immune to perversion than you [probably] are yourself
I should apologise for levelling these accusations at you without any preamble or introduction but since you have hoist yourself on the public in such a grandiose manner I'm sure you can withstand any comments from the likes of myself. I feel therefore unrestricted in rushing on in a similar vein, & wish to state quite firmly that you seem hell bent on sabotage, albeit in a rather fashionable manner, of what were once mankinds' most redeeming features, ie Art & cognition
Does your work reflect some inner pyschological torment or self hate? The very logic & rationality (& creativity) of civilization which created the technology to enable you to become a photographer, & thus gain commercial acceptance, you seem to treat with contempt
I find your exhibits offensive because they illustrate nothing more than a vile form of self-promotion: a form of self-aggrandizement that takes advantage of younger minds & society generally. To declare innocence & mere artistic expression is fluent but insincere, & even more contemptuous since you consciously declare your theories & insinuate doubt & political correctness to your distinct advantage
I think your sculpture is shown because most people, when exposed to faeces, vomit or used species of contraception or drug addiction, are taken aback. They don't quite know how to deal with it. They are confused by its location in a museum or art gallery. Discourse, debate, & the will to intellectually counter the depths of such muck is stifled. Hence, confidence in one's own mind is strangled. What follows is the ebb & flow of public opinion as facile as the migration of jellyfish in a polluted tidal pool
Your declaration of being a voice of the downtrodden is also inspired nonsense. However, I must congratulate you on your Crapulatory Success. Since your work indicates motives ulterior to Art, what is your next ambition: perhaps a comfortable university tenure?
With ever-diminishing respect & my infinite contempt,
Douglas Philby