Old people with vegetation on their head

[Xipe Totec]

Photographers Riitta Ikonenand and Karoline Hjorth are collaborating in an ongoing art project “Eyes as Big as Plates” that features old people wearing vegetation as large, unkept hairdos.

https://www.sadanduseless.com/seniors-vs-plants/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. That's . . . different.

My own hair looks like that in the morning.

[RKP5637]

2. LOL, Yep - same here! n/t

[hlthe2b]

3. Not a fan of making elderly objects... Our society surely doesn't revere them, but is it too much to

think we could leave them their dignity? and, on a site called: sadanduseless.com no less? YES, I DO note it was meant to be a "humor" site, but still. This isn't funny to me. I'd give anything in the world to have the parents I lost far too young have lived to see old age.

Not meant to be a criticism of the OP, btw, but rather the issue itself.

[spooky3]

4. +1

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. thank you, hlthe2b. n/t

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. I could not disagree with you more

These are beautiful images that bring out the best of the subject. Art is always subjective.

[hlthe2b]

9. Promoting demeaning elderly images on a site called "sadanduseless.com"?!!!!

You can't teach respect, I guess.

[Ferrets are Cool]

12. This discussion is over

at least with me.

[hlthe2b]

13. I have to be reassured that you don't wish to defend THAT!

[Demit]

10. A little background on the creators and what their project actually is:

They didn't create their art to be humor. Here's a description of the book about the project:

"Eyes as Big as Plates is an ongoing collaborative photography and sculpture project by Norwegian-Finnish artist duo Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen (both born 1980).

Initially a play on characters from Nordic folklore, the series has evolved into a search for the human connection to nature. Hjorth & Ikonen work together throughout the process with their complementary skills (Karoline is the photographer in the duo, while Riitta works mainly with the creation of the wearable sculptures). Since 2011 the duo has collaborated with retired farmers, fishermen, zoologists, plumbers, opera singers, housewives, artists and academics. Each character inhabits the landscape in a wearable sculpture made from natural materials.

The book features portraits, field notes, essays and behind-the-scenes stories from many of the project’s 60 shoots. With international press coverage in the Huffington Post, the BBC, TIME LightBox, Life and elsewhere, plus a highly successful Kickstarter campaign attracting a large American audience, the series has developed into a project with universal appeal."

[hlthe2b]

11. yet.. they are promoting on a site called: sadanduseless.com? Yeah, I'm buying it. NOT

This is really ugly. Maybe you never had elderly in your life that you really revered and miss to this day, or like me, parents who died before they could reach old age. Maybe that's the difference, but I'm appalled. Old people ought to live out their lives with dignity. Not made a prop for someone's idea of "bush" art.

[Mosby]

14. thank you. nt

[Demit]

15. Oh, please.

It's an art project. It's not the creators' fault that a completely unrelated site—a site they have nothing to do with—has misunderstood their project, which was done seriously, with sensitivity, and in full collaboration with the retired people who were their models. Blame the cretinous humor site, not the artists.

And don't insult people you don't know and have never met because you are angry at the humor site. I miss my dead parents too. Not the least because of their appreciation for art. Shame on you.

[hlthe2b]

16. I attack no one. I point out the demeaning nature of this art posted on a site SADANDUSELESS.COM

If that makes you feel self-righteous, I feel very sorry for you and for any older people in your life. If you feel insulted that others here have pointed out that that is an issue, I think the issue is with you. Perhaps you are projecting your own shame.

[Demit]

17. You are "feeling sorry" for someone who understands art.

You don't.

[hlthe2b]

18. I understand respect for our elderly.

YOU Clearly DON'T

[Xipe Totec]

19. First of all, THEY are not promoting the site, the site picked them

In the about page for the website it says:

SadAndUseless.com was created in 2009 as a sad attempt at humor. And to this day it still is the same old useless site it was meant to be.

So it is the site poking fun at itself calling itself sad and useless. Not a characterization of the people being depicted.

[hlthe2b]

21. right.. it is all just coincidence...

I may not be the art expert you believe yourself to be, but I know demeaning exploitation when I see it.

And, having had the profound opportunity to visit the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts, the British Museum, the Van Gogh Museum and the many somewhat lesser renowned museums of this country, I guess they are all missing out on the 'elderly prop art with bushes on their head' genre. I'm sure you'll let them know what they are missing...

[Arkansas Granny]

5. Interesting, but not a look I care to try, thank you very much.

[2naSalit]

7. Interesting art piece.

It reminds me of some of the artwork you see with regard to ancient elders as being entwined with nature companions indicating vast wisdom.

[Xipe Totec]

20. It reminded me of the three eyed raven in Game of Thrones

The one depicted by Max Von Sydow as a man integrated into the roots of a tree.

[2naSalit]

23. That sounds interesting

but I don't and haven't seen one episode of that show... don't have a teevee for starters. But I can imagine the character.

[GemDigger]

22. That looks like something I would do and have a blast doing it. I see so much in her face.

Years, tears, wisdom, humor. It's almost like she is doing her best to not break out laughing long enough to take the picture.