Look, we know a lot of you who read our humble little website aren’t exactly the biggest fans of Kanye West. And there’s always a certain amount of schadenfreude to be found in the hyper-egotistical getting knocked down from their self-appointed pedestals.
But make no bones about it: This is fucked. Utterly, utterly fucked.
Melbourne street artist Lushsux has apparently taken a brief moment away from repeatedly painting butts on walls to take a stab at ~biting social commentary~ with a new piece focused on Kanye.
The only problem here being that it’s a blatant stab at trivialising West’s well-documented and very, very serious issues with mental health, which required hospitalisation for psychiatric evaluation and treatment after the iconic artist was forced to cancel the remainder of his elaborate ‘Saint Pablo‘ tour.
Enter: Lushsux, who has captured the whole saga by depicting Kanye as a crass and fucking harmful stereotype of mental illness – the straitjacket sporting, tongue-hanging-out “crazy” person – in a new mural splashed across a wall somewhere in Melbourne.
Why is this bad? Because it violates the first and most important rule of satire and comedy: Never punch down.
Attacking the issue of an individual’s suffering always and immediately elevates the person making the joke to a higher platform and reduces the subject (or frankly in this case, victim) to a punching bag for issues beyond their control; it becomes, from the instant the mocking begins, a position with little or no recourse or opportunity to respond.
On the scale of shitty jokes it’s no better than this, for example:
It’s not an issue of artistic integrity or intent. It’s not an issue of whether or not the subject or issue holds social or cultural relevance. Hell, it’s not even an issue as to whether or not the piece is fundamentally good from an execution standpoint.
It is an issue of Lushsux being an absolute shitbag of the very highest order.
Like Kanye, hate Kanye, feel entirely indifferent to Kanye. No matter what, this is indefensible bullshit, and an utter blight on the artform from a bloke whose recent work has sported all the edge of an egg yolk.
Go fuck yourself, m8. This sucks.
Photo: Lushsux/Instagram.
Hey mates – if you’re going through a rough time, the best thing you can do is reach out. To speak to someone about mental health, or for 24/7 counselling, call BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636. If you are in crisis or distress, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. If it is an emergency, call 000.
