Artists Say the Darndest Things

At one point when the conversation seemed to be dwindling, Peter pulled a question out of the “I can’t seem to think of anything else” bag: “Kiki, if you could be any of the animals your work portrays, which animal would you want to be?”

Kiki: “Oh! I’d want to be a worm. I like worms.”

A few chuckles whispered around the auditorium, and Peter looked as though he were trying to decide how best to proceed when Kiki asked: “Peter, what kind of animal would you be?”

Peter: “I think I’d be a dog.” As Peter took a moment to think about why he’d be a dog, mumbling a few ‘hmms’ and ‘well…’ phrases, Kiki leaned in a little to say, “I could crawl up your asshole!”

The whole audience took a moment to silently debate: Did she REALLY just say that? I looked over my shoulder at the camera, thinking about the folks in Online Land watching the event as a webcast. Did they catch that? Peter looked speechless, and even Kiki seemed a little suprised by it. Just as quickly the moment passed and the whole place erupted in laughing and snorting. Peter still looked like he was trying to strategize a way to rescue this event when she added: “Or you could step on me.”

from the Walker Art Museum Education and Community Programs blog: http://blogs.walkerart.org/ecp/2006/02/27/kiki-smith-death-disease-and-dismemberment/