Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/943656
maltatoday SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2018 Opinion 24 L ast week, Mark Anthony Falzon wrote a rather amusing little piece in 'The Sunday Times'. Here are a few randomly selected quotes: "I wish someone would take it upon him or herself to destroy the rest of [the 'Jablo junk' statues]. I also wish the idea would catch on. If there is hope, it lies in the vandals..." "...I'm dead serious about this: I'd be a happy man if someone decided to take a spraycan, or preferably a very heavy hammer, to the knot [another sculpture in Valletta]...." And lastly, "The only thing, then, that can save us from the pointless horrors dumped in public places, is what we might call a restorative destruction. Destruction is not necessarily a bad thing. To destroy the proverbs junk and the knot and the million other things is to restore public space to its beauty." And so on and so forth. He was, of course, joking... (I mean, come on: he even wrote "The only reason why I haven't done it myself is that I have no wish to go to prison". How much more of a give-away do you need?)... which, of course, also means that everyone who wanted to interpret it literally, went ahead and did precisely that. And oh, the fun they all had, swooning in contrived shock and horror all over the Internet! A university professor, lecturing at the Faculty of Arts, urging the public to demolish works of art...! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Malta is a veritable paradise for those who possess a sense of the ironic. Such a shame that less than one per cent of its population can ever seem to actually see it that way... But yes, alas, perhaps a few benighted souls out there really did take it literally. There is always that sort of risk when indulging in satire, you know (which is why, as a rule, when I satirically suggest something, I always try to ensure that it involves the least violence and bloodshed possible. But that's just me.). In any case: Falzon's take on the street-art vandalism incident reminded me (in a roundabout sort of way) of Jonathan Swift's famous 1729 'modest proposal' to solve the Irish potato famine: "I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout..." You can well imagine the hullaballoo that erupted in polite British society when the above was read by an audience as yet largely unfamiliar with this particular brand of satire (and even more so, by the ones who understood Swift perfectly well, but took mortal offence at his insinuation of their own guilt). I saw something similar in quite a few public reactions to Falzon's article, too. And not just in the reactions, either. Part of what makes Swift's satire so effective is that his proposal cannot conceivably be taken seriously, because it is so utterly and unthinkably preposterous. And once it is established that a literal interpretation cannot possibly hold, we are compelled to seek interpretations elsewhere. Anyone who reads Swift's Modest Proposal today will instinctively realise that, if the author resorted to such shocking, provocative methods in the first place... it was because the situation he was trying to draw attention to (the Irish famine) was itself shocking and preposterous. Children were starving to death by the tens of thousands. Would it make that much more difference if they were 'stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled' instead? But I'm also a great (indoctrinated) believer in Roland Barthes, 'The Death of the Author', and all that. A piece of writing takes on a life of its own; its impact on readers varies over time, or at different phases of a reader's life. The context in which it is read will also change, and in time so will the meaning or connotations of the individual words used. Authors do not 'own' the key to interpreting their own work, any more than they own the key to each individual reader's house. So while I won't hazard a guess at what Mark Anthony Falzon intended as the main satirical thrust... I'll gladly supply my own interpretation. To begin with: you will surely note that, what started out as a personal reaction to a single act of vandalism – directed at those (admittedly hideous) polystyrene sculptures erected about Valletta for V18 – quickly evolves into an exhortation to destroy the 'million other things' that seem to be offending the author's aesthetic sensitivities. Naturally, it is by no means certain that any vandals who follow this satirical advice would limit themselves only to destroying those 'horrors' that Falzon himself indicates. Among those 'million other things' he alluded to, there will have also to be things that offend other people's sensitivities... to the point that they very literally – with no trace of irony at all – desire to wreck and destroy them. Sadly, one would also have to include the impromptu shrine erected to the memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia, at the foot of the Great Siege Memorial in Valletta, to that list. I say 'sadly' because... in all honesty, I can think of no other word when faced with some of the comments I've read under all the relevant articles of late. It is sad that anyone's reaction to any memorial to a recently murdered individual – no matter who – would be so savagely destructive and bitterly hateful. To that, naturally, the response will be: 'Yeah, well look at what she wrote about Mintoff ', etc. But that's precisely what makes it so sad. It just doesn't ever stop, does it? But whatever word we use to describe the sadness of this situation – its meaning will probably change in time anyway – the brutally honest truth is that a lot of people in Malta feel precisely the same way about the Daphne shrine, as Falzon does about the 'Jablo junk' in that article. And most of them have no compunction whatsoever in expressing that sentiment in some of most unvarnished and tactless comments you will ever read, anywhere on the Internet. This thing we call 'art' Raphael Vassallo S I T U A T I O N V A C A NT CLERK The Regulator for Energy and Water Services is seeking to recruit Clerk. The selected candidate must be in possession of 6 passes at Ordinary Level or higher, in different subjects to include Maltese, English Language, Mathematics and Accounts, and two other subjects; and must be in possession of ECDL showing passes in at least the following 3 modules - Using the computer and Managing files, Word Processing and Spreadsheet. Further details with regards to this post may be obtained from the Regulator's website. Interested persons are requested to send their application, together with a detailed CV, by not later than midnight of Monday, 5 March 2018. Applications marked Private and Confidential, are to be addressed to the Chief Executive Officer, Regulator for Energy and Water Services, Millennia, 2 nd Floor, Aldo Moro Road, Marsa, MRS 9065, or by e-mail to ceo@rews.org.mt. All applications shall be acknowledged and treated in the strictest confidence. Millennia, Aldo Moro Road, Marsa, MRS 9065. Tel.: 22955121; Fax.: 22955200 http://www.rews.org.mt JOBPLUS PERMIT No. 671/2017 Birzebbuga Local Council Dar Birzebbuga Triq Santa Marija Birzebbuga BBG1651 Tel: 21650165 Fax:21650444 BIRŻEBBUĠA Email: birzebbuga.lc@gov.mt The Birżebbuga Local Council notifies that during its next Council meeting, scheduled for Monday 12th March 2018, it shall be discussing the following bye-law: - Trailers and Other Encumbering Objects in the locality of Birzebbuga The general public is being informed that a copy of the mentioned bye-law will be made available at the Local Council's Offices which shall be receiving any suggestions/complaints up till noon of Friday 9th March 2018 Svetlick Flores Executive Secretary And oh, the fun they all had, swooning in contrived shock and horror all over the Internet! A university professor, lecturing at the Faculty of Arts, urging the public to demolish works of art...!