Damn you, Canwest. And damn you, Saskatoon Star Phoenix. If it wasn't for you, I could actually purge all memories of Saskatchewan from my brain. Instead, I get random newspaper feeds about Saskatchewan through my local news affiliate. This one particular story from the Star Phoenix online caught my eye:
"52 Reasons to Love Saskatchewan"
"52 Reasons to Love Saskatchewan"
Of course, anyone who has lived in Saskatchewan will immediately be struck by such a statement. 52 reasons to love Saskatchewan? Are there really 52? Maybe they left out the decimal. Yes, 5.2 reasons sounds like a more appropriate figure. Clearly, the writer has not weighed the positives against the hundreds of reasons to hate Saskatchewan, so carefully noted in this blog.
But let's move beyond the numbers. Does everything on that list truly count as a reason to love Saskatchewan? This particular entry, #5 on their list, raised my eyebrow:
Woah. Stop. "Sculpture Garden?" That's what they call it? That empty field by the university full of creepy unfinished looking blobs of white cement? I must have walked by that place hundreds of times. It always struck me for three reasons:
1) The creepiness of it. That giant white hand with black nail polish coming out of the ground is just plain creepy. Just walk by it at night. The other sculptures range from slightly disturbing to full-on heeby-jeebies.
2) The waste of space. It was apparently built as a temporary display for an art show in 1993 and it's been there ever since. Why haven't they at least removed the sculptures, let alone developed the land, which is prime riverfront property. They could build student residences there to address the ongoing student housing shortage that one hears about every fall.
3) The sheer ugliness of it. I know taste in art is a subjective thing. But I've made art. Art is a friend of mine. Star Phoenix, those sculptures are no art.
Art to some; a giant pooh to others
If this is #5 on a list of 52, I can't imagine what other gems the Star Phoenix have in store for us. Stay tuned.
