Weird news: French Conservatives Struggle With Giant Inflatable Butt-Plug

Friday, 17 October 2014

French Conservatives Struggle With Giant Inflatable Butt-Plug

Paris. Anyone who's been there knows that the locals can be a little uptight. Now, there's a reason that people can point to... and photograph, and complain about to the media.

French ultra-conservatives are pretty upset that there's a giant butt-plug in the middle of Place Vendome, says Gawker.

The artist behind the 24-foot inflatable foreign object, Paul McCarthy, calls it a tree. In fact, "Tree" is the piece's official name. The artist is also famous for inflatable piles of poo, and a sculpture of Santa Claus holding a dildo.

paul mccarthy tree

Although it's clearly evident that "Tree" depicts a sex toy, most folks don't seem to care all that much (it's art, people).

paul mccarthy tree

However, French Spring, a political far-right group that opposes gay marriage, calls "Tree" a sex toy and therefore a disgrace to the historic plaza.

Unfortunately, they're not the only ones who took umbrage with the ambiguously sexual sculpture. On Thursday, the artist was attacked by an unknown assailant while installing "Tree."

The director of FIAC, the Contemporary Art Fair, which is hosting the sculpture, says the attack was regrettable and not representative of France as a whole, but that her office has received complaints that McCarthy was corrupting and misusing the “sacred symbol” of the Christmas tree, according to ArtNet.

paul mccarthy tree