[Social] Alien Art ((open))

[Shari]

Shari is wandering across the Quad, carrying what can only be described as a large eight-sided die with the top half twisted into some kind of spiral, the whole thing set on top of a very thin circular almost boney disc. Oh and the whole thing is the angry red of flesh and muscle and moving ever so slightly.

[Narrator]

Elsewhere, crossing the quad, a man in a cape and a beret was also walking. Now, Shari had only just begun her research into the world of Art, but if there ever was an Art guy in the world, that dude was it.

[Shari]

If there's one thing that Skrulls inherently understand it's stereotypes, so she eagerly waves at the man before realizing her sculpture is slipping when she only holds it with one hand and quickly grabs a firm hold of it again and instead changes her walking direction to put her on a course towards him. Maybe this is the Art Professor. Do they have an art professor? Probably! It's not like Shari has memorized the faculty list.

"Hello!"

[Narrator]

"'Ello?" the man says, confused by the very strange student for a moment. Who comes up to a servant of the royal family anyw...

...what the hell was she carrying? That caught Jacques' attention, and he looked to phrase his reaction appropriately.

"...What the hell are you carrying?"

[Shari]

"Art! I sculpted this myself! Well, with a little bit of help from my friend Will." she says, putting the sculpture down on the ground, which makes it shimmy/jiggle disconcertingly.

[Narrator]

Jacques reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of spectacles, onto which were clipped a small magnifying loop.

"A sculptor, you say?" he said, looking fascinated. "I don't believe I've ever seen anything in this medium before."

[Shari]

"A Sculptrex." she corrects him as if that was a real word. "It's made from muscles and bone. Like I said, my friend helped me with it."

[Narrator]

"...Like, actual muscles and bone?" he said, wrinkling his nose up a little as he took a step back. "Some sort of...bodyworks-type exhibit?"

[Shari]

Shari has no idea about Bodyworks as a thing, but the words sure sound right.

"Yeah! It's a completely new shape, never seen before in a living thing!"

[Narrator]

"...You don't mean to tell me this is alive," he said, taking a step back.

[Shari]

"Well yeah. I told you my friend helped me with it." she starts, though to her credit she does catch on to the man's reaction.

"He's a shapeshifter! It's totally fine."

[Narrator]

"Oh, so, he simply shifted to look like this, then? Well, that's....that's very good of him, I'm sure."

[Shari]

"What? No no no! I made the shape! He's just... holding it."

[Narrator]

"Perhaps I'm not understanding how this, er, sculpting works. Is it some sort of...collaborative process?"

[Shari]

"I guess! He turned into clay and I molded him and then he turned fleshy again. I guess kind of like that thing you do with plates and mugs in the oven, but with skin and bones."

[Narrator]

"Young lady, this is not what we do with...'plates' and 'mugs'. If anything, this feels...unfinished."

[Shari]

"Unfinished? How's that? I made a shape and it's set into flesh and bone." Shari huffs. Who's this guy to question a Sculptrex's work.

[Narrator]

"Sculpting isn't about just creating shapes. This isn't anything; it's just a blob. A blob for which the, er, material is doing most of the work," Jacques said, dismissively. "You have not added much to it yourself. It doesn't mean anything; it doesn't do anything, it doesn't represent anything. It does not spark joy.

And as for being set in flesh and bone, that simply means it will perish, yes? It is not a pathway to immortality."

[Shari]

"It's making you upset. That's doing something. And it's not gonna perish because it's gonna turn back into a person at some point. If you're so great why don't you make a cool living shape? I bet I know way more about shaping living things than you." Shari huffs.

[Narrator]

"That isn't sculpture," Jacques said, dismissively. "That is, at best, biology. "

[Shari]

"Biological sculpting." Shari insists and puffs her chest out, sprouting a thick collar of fur that looks more like the dusty hairs of a moth than regular fur, an effect that's only enhanced by her head changing and elongating slightly, sprouting two long antennae that sweep backwards. Unblinking eyes looking at Jacques.

"You think it doesn't take skill to turn skin into chitin and thread nerves that can smell sounds in the air?" she says, flicking one of her antennae like one might with hair.

[Narrator]

Jacques took two and a half steps back as Shari shifted -- who wouldn't? But he held his philosophical ground.

"I did not say it did not require skill.. Simply that it was not, and is not Art."

[Shari]

"Why? Cause it goes away? The constant means nothing without the ever-changing and vice versa."

[Narrator]

"Because it does not mean anything. It is not creativity expressed; it does not improve the world in which it is found. It is merely a matter of practicality. "

[Shari]

"It means something to me. It means something to how people see me and interact with me. It means something for understanding them. This thing might not have a message." she says, patting her sculpture, "But it tells you something about the person who made it. You might think what it told you is bad and stupid, but it told you anyway. It told you that I think this is cool and good because it's pointless and weird and clumsy."

[Narrator]

"What it tells me about the person who made it is that they do not, as of yet, have even a portion of the skills required to express their intention in...this medium, at least," Jacques said, haughtily.

[Shari]

"Well obviously. This is my first work as a Sculptrex."

[Narrator]

Jacques sighed, rubbing his temples. "Does it even have a title?"

[Shari]

"Oh. Hmm. It's called... Anew."

[Narrator]

"Well, I suppose my first sculptures were not fit for display, either," Jacques said, with a sigh. "But I will be honest, this needs....a great deal of work before it can be considered worth displaying or selling."

[Shari]

"I don't want to sell it! I just wanna show it off cause I'm proud of it and I bet Sl'gur't would approve because it's the first truly new thing in ages made by a Skr---ulptrex." she narrowly catches herself.

[Narrator]

"If you are proud of this now, imagine what yo could make when you had the slightest sense of what you were doing," Jacques said, a little haughtily.

[Shari]

"Hrm. Yes indeed. Who would you say are the greatest... say 5 artists of Earth?"

[Narrator]

"Ah, now that is an unanswerable question."

[Shari]

"What? You don't know who the 5 best artists are!?" Shari gasps so hard she shifts back into a human just to have the proper lungs and general biology to do so.

[Narrator]

"That is highly subjective, and to even come close to providing an answer would require...well, more knowledge than you currently have," Jacques said, with an air of superiority.

"But, if I had to go for some names...Michelangelo. Donatello. Bernini. Rodin. Giacometti.. Studying the masters can only help one improve."

[Shari]

"Yes! Exactly! Finally something we can agree on." she nods. "Wait..." she says, narrowing her eyes at Jacques. "Tapa'im eka skrullos hu'nuhuncha?" she rattles off in what's basically the equivalent of 'Skrull says what?"

[Narrator]

"...I'm sorry?" Jacques said, hopelessly confused.

[Shari]

"Okay, good. Nevermind that. Studying the masters, I might just do that. But... there's no one that has done this kind of art before, right? You mentioned some kind of body works...."

[Narrator]

"Plastinised, preserved and dissected bodies. Not exactly fine art, if you ask me, which you have."