My old Oberlin classmate Rachel tipped me off to this recent article in our alma mater's newspaper: Public Art: The Politics of Puking.
On December 12, just before the end of classes and the start of Reading Period, a group of five students led by College junior Kalan Sherrard, dressed up in white and went in front of Mudd Library where they proceeded to consume beets and tomato soup and vomit the red mixture on themselves and each other.
Sherrard was put on probation for, essentially, failing to get advance permission to vomit on himself and others. A well-trained Oberlin student, he's pretty sure that's an outrage, and he's got the postmodern gibberish to prove it: �Modern dance shows that walking can be a type of art," he says, "so banning art in public spaces means banning public spaces."
Of course, not everyone was so pleased with Sherrard's performance. Why not? Well, if you think it's for the obvious reason � people were vomiting on each other in public � then you obviously didn't go to Oberlin. No, here's the fundamental objection: "I'm a recovering bulimic who has a hard enough time during finals as is. I really REALLY didn�t need to see someone puke on themselves with no goddamn warning.�
My only question is: why isn't this on YouTube? Oh well, here's an Oberlin art project that is, "How Many Licks." I can only assume it's an ironic commentary on commercialism. Whatever. The project is almost salvaged by the moment that begins at 185.
