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U.S. taxpayers to spend $400,000 for a camel sculpture in Pakistan

Mar 31, 2014 4:37 pm By Robert Spencer

CamelSculptureIt isn’t enough that U.S. taxpayers have for years now been subsidizing the Pakistanis’ support for jihad terrorists. The New York Times reported on that at length back in 2008. No, that jizya is not enough. There has to be more, more, more — more money spent, more submission, more tribute. Even up to and including a fiberglass camel.

“Exclusive: U.S. Taxpayers To Spend $400,000 For A Camel Sculpture In Pakistan,” by Aram Roston for BuzzFeed, March 31 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):

The State Department is planning to spend $400,000 in taxpayer funds to buy a sculpture for the new American embassy being built in Islamabad, Pakistan, according to contracting records.

The work, by noted American artist John Baldessari, depicts a life-size white camel made of fiberglass staring in puzzlement at the eye of an oversize shiny needle — a not-so-subtle play on the New Testament phrase about the difficulty the wealthy have in entering the kingdom of heaven.

Officials explained the decision to purchase the piece of art, titled “Camel Contemplating Needle,” in a four-page document justifying a “sole source” procurement. “This artist’s product is uniquely qualified,” the document explains. “Public art which will be presented in the new embassy should reflect the values of a predominantly Islamist country,” it says. (Like the Bible, the Qur’an uses the metaphor of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.)

To emphasize Baldassari’s fame, the contracting officials pulled a section from Wikipedia. “John Anthony Baldessari (born June 17, 1931) is an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images.”

In a statement, State Department press spokeswoman Christine Foushee said the proposed purchase comes from the department’s “Office of Art in Embassies.” In new construction projects, she said, a small part of the total funds, about 0.5%, is spent on art purchases.

Steven Beyer of Beyer Projects, the art dealer for the project, said the government reached out. “They approached us,” he said in a phone interview. “We were, of course, quite surprised.”

The $400,000 price tag “is actually a very a reduced price for this sculpture,” he said. “There is an art market that makes these prices, and this is one of the most prominent American artists.”

Another copy of “Camel Contemplating a Needle” is on display at Hall Wines in Napa Valley, Calif., and Beyer said that copy sold for far more then the State Department would pay.

He points out that while some Americans may find it frivolous for the government to pay for art, others will find it important. “It depends on what part of the public you are in,” he said. “If you go to the museum and enjoy art and are moved by it, things cost what they cost.”

To put the sculpture’s price tag into a local perspective, the average yearly income in impoverished Pakistan is about $1,250 per year, according to the Agency for International Development.

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Filed Under: Pakistan, United States, Useful idiots


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Comments

  1. Greg Scotto says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    This shit simply never stops. Makes my head explode.

    • robert4 says

      Mar 31, 2014 at 6:43 pm

      What sh**, exactly, “Greg Scotto”?

  2. Mirren10 says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 4:57 pm

    Oops ! They’d better watch out. I see another Benghazi riot/murder on the horizon.

    But what difference does it make ?

    http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/arts-and-entertainment/sculpture-and-statues/175685-islamic-views-on-erecting-statues.html?Statues=s

  3. robert4 says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 4:59 pm

    The State Dept. commissions an American sculptor to produce a work of art for American territory. What’s the problem here?

    • Mirren10 says

      Mar 31, 2014 at 7:30 pm

      ”The State Dept. commissions an American sculptor to produce a work of art for American territory. What’s the problem here?”

      Let’s hope there isn’t one.

      Ambassador Stevens was on ”American territory” in Benghazi, wasn’t he ?

      But what difference does it make ?

  4. Kirk says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 8:43 pm

    Interesting that a sculpture based on a NT parable about riches becoming a burden could costs so damn much…

  5. RCCA says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    Idiotic conceptually. I can see some relevance for this sculpture to be located at an uber exclusive winery in Napa where uber wealthy people visit and might be inspired to think about the (im)morality of their selfish consumption. But what is the relevance of this symbol in Pakistan? It’s a paean to American stupidity, no intelligence bureaucracy with too much money. That’s why we are hated over there. People are not impressed by our faux liberal guilt.
    In a word, I find this disgusting.

  6. Fournier says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    Don’t worry it’ll retain value.

    Baldessari is collectible.

  7. enwhitenment says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    How life today would be so different without the humble artiodactyla or the needle.
    They represent possibly two of the most important tools man has historically had at his disposal.
    A simple reminder that ” you can’t take it with you” when you “leave”
    If this scene already appears elsewhere then it need not be repeated.
    $400,000 could fill more than a million hungry stomachs for a day.
    More than a million opinions could be changed in a day.
    A sign of gluttony that will merely reinforce what the jihad teacher is teaching the hungry child.

  8. Reality Check says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 11:31 pm

    So we are building $100 MILLION to build a fortress with glass 3 inches thick and treated to withstand shoulder fired missiles and we are going to spend a half million for a fiberglass camel to show how much we respect Islam while we sit behind our fortified glass and cement. Insane.

  9. Yocheved says

    Mar 31, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    We must still be a very, very rich country to squander our money like this.

  10. Salah says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 1:08 am

    A camel sculpture or a 14th century fresco? You be the judge:

    http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2010/07/last-judgement-le-jugement-dernier.html

  11. Jay Boo says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 1:21 am

    It is easier for an infidel camel to enter into the kingdom of heaven than it is for a pious Muslim who prays five times every day with a heart filled with hate.

    • Defcon 4 says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 12:26 am

      LOL, that was good. You forgot the part about the eye of the needle though.

  12. CogitoErgoSum says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 1:22 am

    Will there be a companion piece called “Swine Contemplating Pearls”…….?

  13. V says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 1:32 am

    The statement says it will be “in” the new embassy so I hope that means the $400,000 statue will be safe inside?

  14. Abdul Malik says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 2:26 am

    Thankfully, this US spend in pakistan can not be used against India, not unless the pakis, after pillaging the new US embassy, decide to hurl the camel at the Indian soldiers on Wagah Border and maybe use the ‘giant needle’ like a spear.

  15. Zathras says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 6:19 am

    I do hope that the realism of the sculpture does not extend to orifices as then the US will be , no doubt, sued by multiple Muslim males for genital damage from practising one of their common hobbies.

    • Mirren10 says

      Apr 1, 2014 at 8:06 am

      Nice one. 🙂

    • thomas_h says

      Apr 1, 2014 at 12:54 pm

      The orifices will be shipped separately after Pakistan frees the Christians jailed for “blasphemy against Islam”.

    • Defcon 4 says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 2:45 pm

      Worthy of the good guffaw award.

  16. Mannie says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 9:46 am

    If it lasts out the year, I will be surprised. It is anti-Islamic. Graven images are forbidden by the koran. Dome Imam will write a fatwah denouncing it, and it will be destroyed.

    What a stupid, pathetic waste.

    • Defcon 4 says

      Apr 2, 2014 at 12:29 am

      @Mannie

      That’s what I had thought as well. I seem to remember a story (from the sira I believe) in which Aisha bought curtains (I suppose she was trying to bring a little creative flair to the islamic dungeon muhammad kept her in). that had representations of animals on them and Muhammad (SOB) tore them down because of the representations of animals on them.

  17. bill says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 9:50 am

    Is the 400,000 not being paid to the artist in USA? The money is not going to
    benefit Pakistan as far as I can see. The artist suitably enriched will pay his taxes and spend the money in US. So why the fuss? I agree however that it is rather a waste of money by the govt. someone in the state dept has some explaining to do.

  18. Jay Boo says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 10:37 am

    Should have made it a ‘Trojan’ camel filled with anti-jihad books and pamphlets.

  19. Doer a says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 12:16 pm

    …and of course the “artist” uses “found” and “appropriated” images…in other words, he steals items that other people have made, but because he has declared them “art” he gets the grant money for his mortgage or whatever…this “sculpture” is not even sculpted no doubt … It’s a body casting…oh well, could be this disingenuousness was “appropriated” from the Islamic tradition of the same…or is this “April fool”…hahaha…it’s april 1st…undoubtedly recognizing that is also “haram”….:)

  20. Henry says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 1:13 pm

    April fool, right?

  21. Hans says

    Apr 1, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    Since the camel n the needle is to poke fun at the new testament how about a nice joke on a muslim profit?? wonder if that will go down well..
    double standard shit..

  22. Defcon 4 says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 12:31 am

    I’d like to know which of the corrupt scumbags in our Congress were responsible for funding this. I’d also like to know which ones of them are responsible for continuing to pour US tax dollars into islam0nazi states.

  23. citycat says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 8:34 am

    A rich man these days can buy the technology to easily get a camel through the eye of a needle.

  24. Cindy Mccoy says

    Apr 2, 2014 at 6:06 pm

    You have got to be kidding me. We can’t help the seniors in this country, but we can be putting up a statue of a camel come on really?????? We need to take the pocket book away from these people they do not know how it works, and we do!!!! NO MORE SPENDING!!!!

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