Art and Alpe d’Huez

“People make references to Viennese art without really questioning the fact that there is a big difference between ketchup and blood. I never thought of my work as shamanistic. My work is more about being a clown than a shaman.”
Paul McCarthy

Clearly, the arts were alive and kicking on Alpe d’Huez last July. One need not have a degree in art to see that the artist on the left – with the sausage sticking out of his diaper – was influenced by the well-known and highly regarded artist Paul McCarthy – seated on desk with ketchup bottle. Coincidentally, many of my fellow art school pals were influenced by the artist Alicia McCarthy. She and Paul both earned their BFAs in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute.
 

Like Mr. McCarthy, the sausage artist had chosen a performance-based form of expression. Sure, everyone paints the name of his/her favorite rider on the road, but how many attempt to make a significant contribution to the field of art while simultaneously offending and, dare I say it, harassing young women? Hopefully not very many. Moments before this photo was taken he was trying to convince a young, nervous, unwilling woman to kiss him. I was tempted to remove both sausages from his diaper and smack him in the face with them. Luckily, all it took was my camera pointed at him to distract him from the young woman. So my Opinel stayed in my pants. And the artist’s sausages stayed in his.