20 September 2006

Those Bastards! And, Congratulations!

First the Those Bastards! part of the post.

The MacArthur "Genius" Grants were announced and they passed me up, once again. I'm beginning to think they don't know what they're doing.

Now, the Congratulations! portion.

The list of the 25 "geniuses" can be found at the foundations own website.

There's always one or two WTF?!? fellows included in the bunch. I think Anne Schuleit has earned the XWL WTF?!? Grant of $0 (to add to her $500,000 MacArthur Grant) for being the most inexplicable genius within the 2006 bunch. From her overview
Anna Schuleit is a young artist who brings back to life historic sites and structures through her original interpretations. In much of her work to date, she has honored the lives lived within mental health institutions by transforming abandoned facilities into moving, site-specific memorials. Employing such ephemeral elements as choral pieces and seas of flowers, her powerful public works are designed to endure not as objects, but as vivid memories for those who experience the multisensory events she orchestrates. For Habeas Corpus (2000), Schuleit filled Massachusetts’ historic Northampton State Hospital with music; from speakers installed throughout the dilapidated building, a recording of J. S. Bach’s Magnificat poured through windows and doors, stirring a rapt audience of former patients, caregivers, and hundreds of others assembled below.

Yep, that definitely earns the XWL WTF?!? Grant. Spend it wisely Ms. Schuleit.

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