There's no accounting for taste in the Enchanted Forest

There's no accounting for taste.

To each his own.

Live and let live (well, that's a bit different, but along similar lines).

I know nothing about art, but I know what I like (well, that's not really true, see my message http://mymilanitaly.blogspot.com/2010/11/photoless-friday-04-i-dont-know.html, but it's commonly said in these kinds of situations).

No other similar phrases come to mind in English at this moment, but even this short list fits the bill...More......

The "Enchanted Forest" ("Bosco incantato") in Piazza Fontana by an artist named Angiola Tremonti. 'Tis true, they're mixed nicely with the existing trees, so, if we're unlucky enough to find that they're not taken down after the current public art exhibit, then the trees should provide enough leaf cover to make them mercifully almost invisible.

Up close, they're even worse from afar.

The poor women are probably meant to recall the Greek mythological figure of Daphne, who pleaded to the gods to be saved from the overly aggressive amoral advances of Apollo (go figure...he was young and good-looking, but she wanted to remain a virgin, as I recall...why? Can't remember offhand, maybe she had pledged her virginity to Artemis, or some such). They answered her request, but in a way maybe even she didn't expect: they turned her into a tree.

Could have been worse.

For the mythological figure.

The sculptures ARE worse.

The fertile bellies of the poor women are ripped open, as if they are being punished in the very spot for which they had what little worth they possessed in many ancient cultures. (Ancient cultures? Who am I kidding...I'm no strident feminist, but human dignity and equality should be a given, yet it seems that so many cultures--my own, included--still haven't found this delicate balance...sigh....)

So there.

I've finally gotten these sculptures off my chest, or should I say stomach?