Coming as a surprise to many, the QNC muralists infamous for plastering the whiteboard-walls with pictures of characters from the children’s cartoon My Little Pony have been awarded the prestigious “Aristotle Award” from the KW Art commission. Commission director Umar Musad said the murals were selected due to their “unparalleled ability to induce a sense of great pathos.” When the spectator observes these works–which took hours to compose–inspired by a television program targeted towards young girls who play with popular pony dolls, “it is the artist, and not the subject, which is depicted. And no work in recent memory can compare to how tragic and somber this depiction is.”
Admirer though he is, Musad describes himself only as a “weekend Brony,” unable to commit to the performance art which many have begun practicing. “Sure, every now and again I like to get my hands dirty, bust out my fedora, and perform street art, but I lack the courage of some of these full-time artists. I once attended a ‘meetup’ where we went to Toys R Us and purchased My Little Pony dolls. It was some of the greatest work I’ve ever done and I keep that Pinkie Pie in my office, but it was very emotionally draining. By the end of the experience I was so depressed that I had to abandon my plan to start a fanfic blog. It was just totally exhausting.” Although Musad’s relationship with Pinkie Pie is strictly academic, he said that an artist he met on his excursion had chosen Twilight Sparkle to be his “waifu”. When asked why this gentleman in particular was not given the Aristotle, Musad said “although I admire the depth and intensity of his personal work, the public is honestly not ready for it. I don’t think I was. But rest assured, he is among the muralists recognized in this year’s selection.”
One might expect it to trouble Musad that these murals are generally erased within a day, but according to him, “the institute actually felt that their impermanence was what cinched the win. Therein lies the subtle hope in this work. Like the mandala which reminds us that all is impermanent and to not hold onto even that which is beautiful and took painstaking effort, these murals remind us that even life’s most tragic realities are also impermanent.”
Although the artists themselves were initially interested in commenting, they later declined after realizing that it would necessitate being in direct sunlight.
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