A (very) little more on the "pro-life" Britney sculpture

Wherein the media goes wild, the artist gets famous, and I regret having taken an interest in the thing in the first place.

Published March 31, 2006 12:27AM (EST)

"Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston," the porny sculpture depicting Britney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug that we told you about last week, made it all the way to the New York Times today. The Times didn't have much to report that hasn't already been said here or by People, except that the Manhattan Right to Life Committee, whose antiabortion materials are part of the piece, "has backed away from the work" after learning that Spears was the sculpture's subject. (The article also offers up a suitably artsy-looking picture of sculptor Daniel Edwards.) Like everyone else, the NYT duly notes that the gallery's goal seems to be "to draw a bit of attention."

With that aim in mind, the NY Daily News's David Hinkley also weighed in on the Spears sculpture today, urging art lovers and celebrity fetishists alike to give the exhibit a pass. "I would rather have subway station announcements played through the fillings in my teeth than contemplate this latest work from Connecticut sculptor Daniel Edwards, with Spears crouching naked on a bearskin rug as her baby emerges," Hinkley writes. And I have to agree that the idea of a bunch of dudes capitalizing on the viewing public's inexplicable desire to view Britney's vagina is gross. Does Dan Edwards honestly believe that "Celebrity gossip fans were expressing a deep-rooted aversion to abortion when they tracked Britney Spears' pregnancy last year?" I don't care anymore. Everyone go to the Whitney instead.

Or, read Go Fug Yourself's high-comedy contribution to the whole kerfuffle, which takes the form of a letter to fans from Spears herself. A snippet:

"...the real reason that I'm writing this Letter of Truth is because I have to say something about this crazy statue of me. I guess it's of me having Sean Preston and it's supposed to be pro-life or something, but OH MY GOD Y'ALL I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO EMBARRASSED ABOUT ANYTHING IN MY ALL LIFE. Stop looking at it, please, y'all. Seriously, please stop looking at it. Oh my God.

"Okay.

"Okay, first of all -- oh my God, I'm seriously so embarrased -- first of all, I don't know what's going on with that lion's head rug thingie, because for one thing, there weren't any rugs in the room where I had the baby and for another thing, if Cedars Sinai even HAD rugs, I really don't think they would be rugs with heads because don't you think that would scare the baby?

"Are you still looking at that picture of that statue? Please stop looking at it. Oh my God, I can't believe this thing even exists in America. Shouldn't it be illegal to make a statue of some lady you don't know?"


By Page Rockwell

Page Rockwell is Salon's editorial project manager.

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