While Maximo Caminero says he was making a statement when he smashed a vase from a museum exhibit, he was doing nothing more than introducing himself as the Whiner of the Week. Caminero, who is an artist, was charged by police with criminal mischief after he grabbed a vase and then smashed it to the ground at the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).
Caminero told officers that his act, which could carry a five year prison sentence, was a protect against PAMM’s decision to only feature international art.
Let’s first talk about the art that Caminero destroyed. The display of several painted vases is by Ai Weiwei, an artist who is a longtime critic of the Chinese government. He took a dozen 2,000 year old vases and painted each one. So the raw materials involved aren’t available at a nearby garden store.
Caminero has since apologized for his action and claimed that he didn’t know the million dollar value of the vase. It’s the latest move in a bizarre protest. He claimed that the museum does not feature Miami based artists. The museum was easily able to show that this is not the case.
Perhaps there could have been a rational discussion about adjusting the ratio of local vs. international artists. Caminero could have met with the museum’s curators to talk about his feelings. Or he could have reached out to PAMM’s major donors for a similar lobbying effort. Let’s face it, finding out their names is pretty easy when they’re usually featured on a wall.
Instead, Caminero decided his best move was to enter the museum and smash some art. As an artist, he should know that the creative output of another should not be touched.
I’ve seen a lot of art that I consider to be junk but I’ve never felt tempted to put it in the trash. It’s called self control and Caminero should have shown some. His protect may have some merit but it was lost in an act of vandalism.
