# So ... it's OK to be kind of sloppy & illiterate, as long as you're an "artist"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398 "2004-10-09T20:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/1 "2004-10-09T20:36:55Z")
[Misspelled library art do-over a no go says artist](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/10/08/state1245EDT0047.DTL) [Original story - Remedial Art - TPAC’s $50,000 floor mural features several badly misspelled words](http://www.nashvillescene.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?story=Back_Issues:2003:October_16-22_2003:News:City_Limits) > [@](#): > > The mistakes wouldn’t even register with a true artisan, Alquilar said before deciding to leave the work as is. > > “The people that are into humanities, and are into Blake’s concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words,” she told The AP. > > When asked whether she chose the words and names for the work or whether the city provided her with a list, Alquilar took an artistic stance in response. > > “The art chose the words,” she said ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/2 "2004-10-09T20:41:27Z")
I’m going to go slam my head into a wall now. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/3 "2004-10-09T20:45:23Z")
I hope the library kept the receipt. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/4 "2004-10-09T20:47:54Z")
We could give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she isn’t just throwing a fit, and she really is upset that people are paying attention to the surface of the work, rather than the meaning. So what does this mural represent? Why, the joys of knowledge and the importance of learning, I assume 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/5 "2004-10-09T20:49:33Z")
In all fairness, Sh\_\_\_k\_s\_p\_\_r spelled his name numerously different ways throughout his career. There is no excuse for “Eistien” or “Gough,” however. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/6 "2004-10-09T20:50:27Z")
She’s no Eistein. Not even a Shakespere or a Michaelangelo. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/7 "2004-10-09T20:54:11Z")
I’ve seen various artworks containing mispelled text, and it drives me mental. It suggests that the artist doesn’t care enough to bother to check spelling, and that’s bad art no matter how you look at it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/8 "2004-10-09T21:02:16Z")
If it were art she’d created on her own and later tried to sell, then fine: it would have been better if she’d doublechecked the spellings, but a the end of the day, that’s an aesthetic judgement. If she wanted the art to be misspelled, that’s her call. But this was a commissioned piece. That means she does what the customer wants, or she gives back the money they paid for it. And it was commissioned by a public library. This big (and, may I add, ugly) hunk of public art with all these really obvious misspellings of famous people’s names reflects poorly on the library. Generally speaking, I think its better to resolve conflicts without resorting to the courts, but if I were in charge of that library, I’d be talking lawsuit right about now. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/9 "2004-10-09T21:04:30Z")
Reminds me of Siobhan Fahey’s post-Bananarama band, Shakespears Sister. The name was originally going to be Shakespeare’s Sister, but a designer accidentally dropped the final “e.” Then the apostrophe wandered off somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/10 "2004-10-09T21:08:14Z")
"“The art chose the words.” I guess that’s just another way of saying “I’m a dumbass with a huge ego.” They were even going to pay her $6000 to fly back and fix it and she still refused. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/11 "2004-10-09T21:11:03Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > In all fairness, Sh\_\_\_k\_s\_p\_\_r spelled his name numerously different ways throughout his career. That’s true, but I think they were all early in life. In any case she made ten other errors, so it’s pretty clear she was lazy, not confused by spelling variants. ---
**Author:** ![silverfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@silverfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silverfish)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/12 "2004-10-09T21:19:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Reminds me of Siobhan Fahey’s post-Bananarama band, Shakespears Sister. The name was originally going to be Shakespeare’s Sister, but a designer accidentally dropped the final “e.” Then the apostrophe wandered off somehow. So that’s where [Hear’Say](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear%27Say) got their apostrophe from 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/13 "2004-10-09T21:28:25Z")
The Ivory Edvcation Tower nitpickers have no right to dis the artist over the spelling. They looked over the work in progress, and none of those misspelling bee champions told her of the errors. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/14 "2004-10-09T23:08:58Z")
> [@capacitor](#): > > The Ivory Edvcation Tower nitpickers have no right to dis the artist over the spelling. They looked over the work in progress, and none of those misspelling bee champions told her of the errors. It should have raised a red flag when she submitted a “Proposal for Liberry Mural.” ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/15 "2004-10-09T23:14:00Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s true, but I think they were all early in life. Actually, all six of Shakespeare’s (commonly-accepted) signatures come from the last 6 or so years of his life, and three of them from shortly before his death. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/16 "2004-10-09T23:20:14Z")
> [@Governor Quinn](#): > > Actually, all six of Shakespeare’s (commonly-accepted) signatures come from the last 6 or so years of his life, and three of them from shortly before his death. Ah, interesting. Thanks. Now, how many different ways did Einstein spell his name? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/17 "2004-10-09T23:44:24Z")
While the “artist” is undoubtedly a moron, the real prize for stupidity goes to the city councillors who voted to offer her $6000 and expenses to fix all those spelling errors. Oh, the humanities. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/18 "2004-10-09T23:44:24Z")
If her bosses signed off on the final design before she set it in stone, so to speak, they haven’t got a leg to stand on. It’s not unheard of for an artist to be dyslexic, and it’s certainly not unheard for anyone–even an artist–to be a bad speller. And I can tell for damn sure that she didn’t do all that in the dark; you know she had to submit a design before it went up. Someone during that process should have pointed out the errors. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/19 "2004-10-09T23:45:16Z")
> [@silverfish](#): > > So that’s where [Hear’Say](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear%27Say) got their apostrophe from 🙂 Actually, the apostrophe was sliced, diced and julienned into the asterisk in front of \*NSYNC. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398/20 "2004-10-09T23:48:57Z")
Heh. Maybe the library could sponsor a contest for the local elementary school kids: find all the spelling errors in the mural, win a dictionary. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-its-ok-to-be-kind-of-sloppy-illiterate-as-long-as-youre-an-artist/268398.md?page=2)