Who cares about discipline? (GIF by the author via YouTube)
Just when you’d thought you’d seen it all when it comes to art-breaking mishaps (selfie seekers, I’m looking at you), along comes this incredible footage from China of two boys fracturing a sculpture in the Shanghai Museum of Glass.
Recently released CCTV video shows the young lads touching and pulling the wall-mounted work, but we also see their two adult chaperones whip out their phones and film the entire incident — because documentation of this precious scene for posterity sure beats discipline. Not until the boys deliver their fatal blow, pulling the artwork off the wall then letting it crash back against it, do their chaperones frantically wave their hands, gesturing for their charges to return. You’d think one would exercise extra precaution in a building where everything on view is highly breakable, but some people just don’t want to interrupt that moment when art seduces their kids.
The sculpture, “Angel Is Waiting” by artist and pioneer of China’s studio glass movement Shelly Xue, has been on view — and cordoned off by rope barriers — since 2014. It depicts a pair of angel’s wings constructed of glass fragments. According to Arte Magazine, Xue spent about 27 months making it and dedicated it to her newborn daughter. Rather than fixing the work after the boys’ rough handling of it, she has decided to leave it as is. She has simply retitled it “Broken.”
The museum has reportedly not announced whether the children or women received any form of punishment, but it has installed a screen playing the surveillance footage on loop next to the piece — perhaps as a cautionary tale, or as a way to shame the delinquents and their documentarians, which would align well with Chinese custom. Either way, the moment is gathering more views and shares than if it had only been played at that family’s next reunion!
Reminds me a bit of the tourists I saw not too long ago at ICA Boston who let their toddler literally run around in an installation that mostly involved large ceramic sculptures on custom plinths also made of ceramic and fire brick. All while they were not even bothering to watch the child as she ran around.
Fortunately they were asked to leave before their child could destroy anything and/or be injured or possibly killed by a falling sculpture.
Let me guess, these are the same type of parents that would sue the museum if their child were injured in toppling the artwork down on themselves, using their phone photos and footage as ‘evidence’ of unsafe display practice.
Unlike the US, China is not a litigious society.
True, but ask people from Hong Kong how they feel about tourists from the mainland
that has nothing to do with a litigious society
everyone hates tourists
That has 0 relevance in this discussion.
parents who sue for their children’s inability to coordinate would most likely be Americans
I watched a family of tourists yesterday at the Guggenheim let their children touch just about every piece on display for 2 floors before I yelled at one of them and then told their parents to fuck off.
Thank you from all of us.
Well done. But why not call a gaurd on the first floor to have a quiet word in their shell like? Or have them thrown out….
Here’s why…
“My aggrieved client…whose INNOCENT children are the victim of needless, discriminatory harassment is only demanding fair compensation for the suffering of her poor, darling little.”…etc.
I’m surprised they didn’t tell you the same thing. First. I saw that plenty in my museum days. Unfettered breeding is way overrated.
They were way more concerned with playing the victim to the big scary New Yorker with sleeve tattoos that was rude to them during their trip. Scare tactics usually work.
No kidding… it’s art, not a play area for your ratty-ass kids… Totally disrespectful.
Bravo!??
The parents are the issue….these women pictured clearly are self centered and do not care…there are ropes there for a reason…I guess they dont have a brain between them to tell them that no one is allowed beyond the ropes especially there untrained kids!
I see this type of behavior all the time at the various Smithsonians — even from ADULTS! I saw a middle-aged man touch the paint surface on a van Gogh once!!! Some people just want to ruin these priceless works for all of us!
I mean, it’s one thing to touch a bronze in a sculpture garden — but paintings, glass sculptures, and anything assembled on-site? No way. Unless you are trained in the properties of art materials, you’d best keep away!
The very idea of this is unthinkable to me! I guess I never dared to do this as a child — my mom (who used to work at a Natural History museum) would have skinned me alive!!!
Did she work at the Natural History museum in Chicago? That’s my all-time-favorite museum, it’s incredible.
At every museum I’ve ever been to, I’ve seen adults and kids alike do things they should have been tossed out or even arrested for. As a kid, I knew better, and as a parent, I’ve taught my son to know better. The kids are doing what they think is ok because the “adults” who are supposed to teach them right from wrong aren’t doing their job. It’s beyond sad, and it makes me so happy to know they were caught on CCTV and it’s being looped in front of the artwork. That kind of shame is a great teacher, not just to them, but other parents who would do the same. Good for the museum!!!
Maybe they need a big jail cell inside the entry to the museum. Anyone caught so much as touching a work of art gets put on public display til the museum closes. The choice is between that, and 3 days in jail.
If the damage being done to real landscapes by industrial wind turbines was replicated in art museums, there would be mass outrage. Off topic or not, worth mentioning.
I’ll take the downsides of wind power over mountaintop removal and fracking earthquakes any day (to say nothing of the carbon involved).
Was there a sign that said not to touch? Because touch is being incorporated into the art experience now.
It’s roped off that’s pretty universal for stay out.
Uh, not in any civilized society it’s not. Who walks into the Guggenheim and says “Hey, I bet I can touch this painting.” That’s like saying it’s okay to shoplift is there isn’t a sign prohibiting it.
Well they said they touched every piece it wasn’t stated they also touched paintings. That’s just what you inferred.
Second that last part is a poor attempt at logic. Shop lifting is a crime everywhere. But there are statues and works of art you can touch. So your attempt at logic has failed.
Thanks a lot for the explanation Brent. You’re probably a blast a parties.
Yea, because those people matter.
Not to be a downer here, but they are actually exihibition where you’re invited to interact (by touch/smell/…) with the different piece of exihibition, i went to one in the MoMa (i’m guessing you have no trouble locating it) and several in France and Belgium. And while I admit, the collection that are exposed at the guggenheim usualy are meant to be explored with the eye, saying things like “no in any civilized society” shows just how limited you’re vision of art is
Come see my new ‘piece’ – ‘Feces on Plate’. Enjoy by touch and smell. 🙂
The fellow you responded to is the one who told the story, so unlike you, he KNOWS what happened. Is it that hard to remember someone’s screen name half a page down?
I disagree with most of what you said but I applaud you for being part of the very few who know what ‘inferred’ means.
However, the standard of museums is for people to LOOK at the exhibits. It is unreasonable to guess that exhibits are meant to be handled by the public unless there is something specifically inviting them to do that.
Art exhibits are surely to be looked at unless something invites the public to touch, smell, etc. There’s no reason to touch a sculpture or piece of art otherwise, and surely not if they are cordoned off to keep people at a distance.
call security and film it and have them arrested
Thanks a lot for the timely feedback Richard.
Love it! Spoken like a true fellow New Yorker.
I’m sure it was loud enough that the echo carried through the halls of the Guggenheim & embarrassed them as they walked around and people started starring.
Our hero!
thank you, not all heros ware capes
Thank you!!! Everyone should say something when this happens.
The kids guardians are responsible. Make them pay damages.
I like the idea of low powered electric kiddy prods (imagine hello kitty themed cattle prods, complete with PTSD Disclaimer), to keep the miniature flesh sacks moving in the right direction.
Great, a new art work !
I have long had problems with children in museums. Yes, I took my child to museums when he was an appropriate age. I once asked guards at the NGA in D.C. to ask two women to remove their toddlers who were running and shouting at the great traveling Dada show which I had come to study. The guard told me that they brought their kids their regularly (these were 2-3 year olds) to run around. This really should be actively discouraged. Museums are important places of contemplation for many people.
Frankly, those parents should have been asked to leave for doing that.. and banned if they did it again.
There are options for kids. Those are called “Children’s Museums”
Boom.
I take my 6 year old to museums and tell her not to touch the work. She doesn’t touch the work. It really isn’t that difficult. If your child isn’t at a point that they can control their urges to touch, then hands-off museums just aren’t right for them. But in this case it doesn’t look like the kids are the problem here. You can’t blame children this little for doing something that’s clearly not being discouraged.
Ive taken my kids to museums at 4 and told them not to touch, and they didn’t. If they were younger than 4, I used a stroller or didn’t bring them.
I think the kids are little monsters but clearly that’s the fault of the parents, and THEY need to bear the responsibility for any misbehavior. “If you won’t discipline your kids, we will discipline YOU.”
” the art world is pretty hostile to children”
Possibly because art tends to be expensive and labor intensive to create and maintain, much less repair.
The art world is pretty hostile towards children who are not taught by their parents to behave.
We are talking about children damaging artwork in “the museum system.” So talking about what that system sells is more than appropriate.
Sure there are people who are not boring and sterile, who knock off a great piece of fingerpainting in a quarter-hour. But there are people who put more effort, energy, and thought into their work. You seem to resent that.
The attitude that we are all artists and just need to get out our crayons is exactly the problem. Parents do not see the difference between what grandma does for fun with her crayons and what they see in the museum. So they do not respect the work people put in and see nothing wrong with treating it so casually.
“Art” is not by definition what you say it is. Other people have other definitions and a right to have their work respected–even if you do not like that work.
The whole world is hostile to children. Kids can get in trouble for breaking store windows, shoving other children, taking candy from shop counters, running in the middle of the street.
It is really not fair. They should have options.
Hells yeah, kids should get in trouble for breaking store windows, shoving other children, taking candy from shop counters, and running in the middle of the street. You think the world should condone vandalism, assault, theft, and self-endangerment?!! My kids were raised better.
SH I think miamifella was being sarcastic…….I hope!
Whew, thank you! I was ready to dig a bunker!
Whoooooooosh!
thats the purpose of parents existence
Great sarcasm, miamifella!
It might not be stealing aggression or carelessness. Though I can argue it is carelessness, we can all agree it is vandalism. Even worse being that it is something highly valued. Not just some broken fence.
The sarcasm is strong with this one, lol
How very dada. Huelsenbeck would have been amused.
Um, check out the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center. An early learning day care/preschool with a licensed Kindergarten in which almost all learning takes place in the Smithsonian museums. They enroll infants at six months. Having children exposed to museums from the get go is what all families should have access to; why is your contemplation more important than theirs?
Um, I’m sorry to say….you are an IDIOT!!!! You are missing their point! They are simply stating that allowing your children to run around screaming and touching everything is NOT what a museum is meant for!! Take your damn brats to the playground or the park if you want them to interact this way. Otherwise, they should be taught at AN EARLY AGE to R-E-S-P-E-C-T! I’m going to copy your text and send it to the SEEC as well and let them know that I totally disagree with their degree of curriculum. I would love to hear their response to this one!!
Good lord, calm the f down. Seriously thinking you know more than the curators at the Smithsonian? And you have the audacity to call someone else an idiot? Well behaved children are allowed, brats are not and the powers that be at the Smithsonian know more than Arlene the angry internet commenter.
Seriously? That was definitely something to get mad about…teaching kids to appreciate art is insane…weirdo…
Sounds like a great idea, so long as kids are taught to respect boundaries, or are carefully supervised by responsible parents. This article, on the other hand, is about parents permitting and fostering delinquent behaviour from their little “angels.”
First reaction- Horror. Second reaction- Mute frozen silence at the unchecked barbatrism. Third- reaction- What have we wrought?
And then the self-checking- What are museums? What are exploratoriums? If we artists believe in an element of “play”, how can that be translated to a child (of whatever age) that only sees play as wanton destruction and harm aimed outward as opposed to experience and growth received inward?
Photos of the handlers should accompany the video loop and they should be asked to produce a wall text comment. This would be appropriate- given that the artist maintained control of the piece and changed its context.
I’m still astounded that this was a museum of glass.
I’ll through in hoping the kids in question got bloody hands in the incident. Karma.
*throw….
Whoa, I read this over several times and I never noticed the typo
This is not about parents neglecting their kids in museums. This is about parents WATCHING and FILMING their kids as they pass the barrier and abuse the work. I think that the museum’s response and the artist’s response were brilliant. The question is why the parents thought this behavior was appropriate and worthy of filming.
I wanted to do this years ago when the director was grousing about people who came to openings and stationed themselves at the food table to the extent that “normal” use of the refreshments was difficult. My suggestion of filming them and having at playing at the next opening was received by the board with approximately the same enthusiasm as my previous suggestion that they purchase Bob Wade’s 40-foot iguana (which was auctioned for a song!) and install it on the roof of the museum. Visionary thinking is seldom taken seriously.
Not so sure I’m into the media-shaming business. My guess is that if museum visits were part of every child’s education, they would learn the rules of being a guest as well.
Totally disrespectful, and it’s vandalism. So, apparently you’ve given those kids the idea that vandalism is ok… that’s great parenting. If you’re not going to teach your children to appreciate art…. don’t go to a museum.
Not to put too fine an “I told you so!” where kids and art intersect with lousy parenting (or chaperones in this case). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmZ3Cvekt14
This sums it up beautifully. If parents and guardians can’t be inconvenienced to do their work, they should pay incredibly steep consequences for a long time. Cover the insurance premiums for the museum for the art they destroy perhaps?
I have two autistic nephews who are very touchy-feely and barely disciplined–the results of their parents letting them use it as a ticket to be bratty when they don’t like something. I wouldn’t dream of taking them into a place like this. My niece, on the other hand, would listen to me and if I knew very much about whatever was on display, I’d try to instill curiosity in her and spark her creativity afterwards.
I swear, parenting and child discipline gets worse and worse every year. And the apologists encouraging it get bolder and meaner if anyone calls them out on it.
I agree with you, with the addendum that people with dogs here in SF create the same situation in sensitive areas like the Golden Gate National Rec. Area. They say they are under voice control when they aren’t. They get quite vocal and mean about someone abridging their pet’s (and Theirs) freedom. They betray the same kind of cluelessness and insensitivity as those parents in the Glass Museum.
At the risk of sounding racist, why is it more often than not these damn Chinese who mess up places of art, history, culture and tourism?
In part I would guess it is because only the wealthiest chinese can travel to these kinds of places and the wealthy are quite often assholes who don’t have much if any respect for others.
How disrespectful and shameful. They should be embarrassed at their behavior, but obviously, they’re not. First of all, to let your kids damage something that belongs to a museum is just unbelievable!!! So I guess, teaching your kids that vandalism is fun, is OK with you? And second…. An artist put their time, their skills, and their heart into that work, and created something that had meaning to them…. How dare you let your ratty-ass kids treat it like a piece of garbage. If you don’t appreciate art, don’t go to a f-ing museum!
I was at MOMA and this was an accident. I walked into room at end of room were HUGE photos drawing your attention. I did not see glass sculpture on ground and walked into it, kicking into air, and crashing on ground, shattering. It was a string of fluorescent tubes. Everyone was so angry. It was an accident. Who puts a glass sculpture on the floor?
Who doesn’t look at the floor, especially at a museum? Art work can be displayed and is displayed in different places, not just the walls.
Early practice to demonstrate commitment to the Taliban. Well done!
There are too many people and few too many places to hide them all. As the population grows, so does the chances of you experiencing events such as these. It’s not just children or the parents, it’s an increasingly large number of people that are simply out of touch with common courtesy, social skills and parenthood. This in turn, runs down into the next generation of shitheads and before you know it….it’s the present! We are overrun with fucking self absorbed idiots who, by their own upbringing, do not even realize what kind of a pain-in-the-ass they are to the rest of us.
It is just art. It is way over valued. Point in case I know nothing about this work of art or the artist until the kids damaged it. Now it has value.
May I come and look at an item you spent quite a bit of time/money on and destroy it? It’s only of value to you, why should I give a crap right? People need to respect others property despite of the value because it is just common courtesy. The artist got the extra publicity because of the brats, I bet she would’ve gotten recognition sooner or later because her work actually looks nice, but what do I know I’m just an internet dumbass right?
les enfants pourris.à leur âge, je contemplais les oeuvres.le vandalisme commence par la basse âge.
It’s no Rembrandt. So don’t worry. No great loss.
No wonder why kids are so freaking wild today! Parent don’t do ᎦᏲᎥᎢ disciplining thier rowdy rugrats and thinking that it’s “cute” in thier destructive behavior in ruining a very fragile and priceless work of art! If those were my kids I mean brats I would bring out the “Old School Discipline” on them and take those brats “behind the Woodshed”! What they did and what the moms didn’t do afterwards was totally despicable! I hope they arrest the moms for letting thier brats get away with vandalism as well as punishing those little hellions and making them pay for the damage and destruction on that beautiful work of art that was destroyed by those two brats!
I am the mother of 2 daughters and let me tell you, if either one had ever tried this they wouldve caught something else on that surveillance film!! I have always brought my girls to museums and they wouldve never tried anything like this. And that’s because i made sure to instill respect of other people’s things.
This adults deserve to be shamed and the kids taught how to act appropriately!!!
So, now we have a dead gorilla, broken art at a museum, and a destroyed Lego Sculpture worth $15,000 all in a matter of a few days and all at the hands of kids with parents that should not be allowed to breed. If there were financial consequences or jail time, im sure we could stem this problem real quick.
Now that’s art! Before is was an unknown work and now it is famous and so is the artist who was cool about it. In fact, the artist probably thought, “Heck! That was the missing detail!”
Should have called it – Broken Wings of China
Everyone knows they are the worst tourists in the world and that their only children are spoiled rotten! Even Americans are shocked. lol
This is one reason people don’t like kids, they are out of control monsters.
Only because their parents let them behave that way instead of disciplining and teaching them the correct way to behave and to have respect for things regardless of if it is theirs or not.
Agreed sir.
I was almost raised in the British and Natural History museums in London. I was there every weekend from about 7 to 25. Fascinated. I was horrified on going back for a visit after not being for 20 odd years to see the mongol hordes of hundreds children’s tours and vast endless lines of 20 different tour groups, all fighting to get to the front of every singe damn thing in there. It is appalling and I will never set foot in either one again. Absolutely tragic.
Now had the glass pieces fell on and seriously hurt the kids or worse, the adults would have tried to sue the museum.
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PARENTS THESE DAYS?!?!?! There should seriously be a test for would-be parents, chemically castrate those on welfare, and fine ANY ONE who has kids before being approved!!!! I mean WTF?!!!
It’s glass, ladies! Not only fragile, but dangerous!
Let it cut up not across. I’m horrible but I believe idiots play with fire shouldn’t be surprised when they get burned!
I’m moving to a mountain
What Happens in China Stays in China. But if that Sh*t happened here, I am sure those parents and kids would be tackled by security guards, which afterwards the Kids would be removed by Social Workers. I know in China they like to spoil their little boys.
And now an endangered gorilla is dead because of adults who suck around kids.
I was at the Met. during my first ever visit to NY a week ago and watched a tourist place her cell phone, purse and other random things on a table that was on display in front of a mirror and behind plexiglass. The plexiglass didn’t cover the top of the table, I assume it was so you could get a good look at the marble from above. She then proceeded to dig through her purse as if the table were in her entryway at home. My friend and I watched this for about 10 seconds while the girl pawed through her belongings, headphones in ear, until the voice of an angel, or security guard, barked; “Ma’am? Ma’am! Excuse me Ma’am, that is ART!” I confess, this might have been the single most satisfying moment of my life.
Were they trying to get netfame with a viral video? Viral=contagious! hehehe
and if one of their “little darlings” been cut or killed by the piece, they would have sued the museum
True, but the case would’ve been laughed out of the courts with the provided evidence.
I think this is just the way of the world now. Shitty parents who are manchildren themselves that let their kids just do what the fuck they want in zoo’s galleries, cinemas — raising little shits who have no boundaries or limits to be absolute sociopathic arseholes. Parents of children who push sculptures over, climb into zoo enclosures and break artwork deserve to be publicly flogged! Problem is, there’s “no judgment” and “no consequences” anymore. People today have zero respect for art or anything to culturally enlighten them – phones and tablets and objects that enable their own pathetic little egos are so much more important. People suck balls!
The adult parents/chaperones need a good ass-whipping and fined out the butt! The kids should be spanked! Bringing little kids/babies to a museum is about as dumb as bringing little ones to a wedding or funeral! They should be banned from such places. (and yes, I do have a child that I’ve taught to respect the property of others) Kids just don’t belong in certain places!
I have 4, soon to be 5 children. They have been to numerous museums (we are actually dues-paying members of our local Museum of Art). They also attend weddings and funerals – if children aren’t welcome, I don’t attend because then it’s not about the community of support, it’s about the adult egos involved. This, to me (as a sociologist) is essential to “being raised as members of a community” and “properly socialized”. My children attend multiple funerals per year, and are generally a comfort to the grieving family when they see that the future cares enough to show up. Maybe YOUR parents failed to do that with you, that you see community events, specifically ones about FAMILY and LOVE, as inappropriate spaces for children from which they should be banned. I do note you use the singular to express your number of offspring.
Wow, fuhhreal, you really believe weddings and funerals are an inappropriate place to bring children? While I by no means wish any harm on you, if you were to pass away then you wouldn’t want your child to attend your funeral? Based on your logic, this is what would happen.
It is a parent’s job to teach their children how to behave appropriately in various places. If you don’t ever expose your child to a wedding, funeral, or museum, how do you expect them to understand and respect the appropriate environment? If your child begins to act inappropriately at such an event/location, you then remove your child in order to respect the other people at the event.
In addition, DragonMama brings up an excellent point – certain events are purposed to celebrate family and love. Do you really feel that depriving your child of those joyous moments is the best way to be a good parent?
As a parent, I acknowledge it can be very challenging to bring my children to public places when I know they might not behave as I would want them to, but I come prepared to teach them how to use their manners, be respectful, and I am also prepared to leave if I have to.
Why would you spank a kid who doesn’t think they are doing anything wrong? If your parents/guardians are standing there filming you, laughing and having a good time, why would a child think that they are doing something wrong? Blame the parents, not a child who doesn’t know any better.
As for the no kids at funerals/weddings, that’s a time for mourning/celebrating with your family/friends. Seems like the perfect time for kids if you ask me. How the hell do you expect a child to learn how to behave in said places if you don’t bring them to learn?
A nation of only children has grown up and now the spoiled rotten are raising a generation of even more spoiled rotten kids. Wait till they grow up and are in political control.
So sad the adults weren’t injured by flying glass.
Ugh… i hate when art get ruined because people dont know how to be a parent :/ its common sense to not let your kid cross the obvious barriers put up to protect the artwork.
~sends the bill to the parents~
Disrespectful but also really dangerous. What kind of parents let their
child play with glass fragments? They could have been really baddly injured! Also, I’m piss out to see they encourage them and proudly record that behaviour!
Crap for brains. All 4 of them.
If they don’t make the parents pay for the damages, the parents will never learn.
And here I thought it was just American kids that are stupid f*cks.
These women should have been arrested for allowing their children to vandalize that sculpture. Shame on them.
Chinese will never learn and they just don’t care… I am living in multiracial country and we do have many Chinese tourist, they are the most uncivilized human in this world. They are modern but totally morons… they dont care about others. lack of basic commensence…
Im sorry if my son did that I’d scold him and the LEAVE, its a sacrifice you have to do as a parent. Yes we want to enjoy ourselves but we also decided to procreate. I know if i really want to enjoy myself I need to not have my son with me. I have a toddler that is 21 months old. if he can’t behave we just go home.
People keep saying that the Chinese have no manners anymore. I guess some don’t. At leased the ones in China. But then again I know lots of other people that have no manners in this country.
The lesson here would be on responsibility. I think what would be appropriate is for the penalty under vandalism to be enforced. Whether eventually it’s a court mandate of a fine, jail time or both. Ultimately, the children and their parents learn a lesson of consequence and be put through the process of going to court and obtaining a settlement. If they don’t want trouble, they shouldn’t ask for trouble. If they are tourists they should be detained for their crime until it is set right.
That was just wrong! I’ve heard that Chinese tourist are among the worst but this was in their own country? I would have made them pay for their children’s totally wrong acts and made the children clean up every shard of glass that was on the floor.
This is truly disgusting. It wasn’t even like the parents didn’t notice, they stood there and FILMED the children.
Nobody is responsible for their actions anymore. Just like the little monkey that got into the gorilla pen the other day. Now ya got a dead gorilla because of non-parenting parents. Walk off with no penalty.
Actually just heard on my local news last night that the family is basically on the run and hasn’t been home because people are staking out the home for an old fashioned witch hunt. Guess looking after you young one was a better option than being this months most wanted. Parents please remember to parent, thank you.
and I think the zoo is still planning to press charges, I would if I were them. The poor zoo is getting too much unnecessary flak for a situation that should have never happened but idiots exist and sadly breed.
There are no bad children, just bad parents…
Its sad that people who can’t follow the rules end up ruining things for everyone else. I worked at a zoo, it was angering, heartbreaking, and frustrating to see people break the rules everyday. Rules put there to protect the animals safety and well being. Just to be clear, please don’t go into a cordoned off area in a zoo or museum, it means keep out. If the sign says don’t touch or don’t feed, please listen. Oh, and please don’t throw your trash into the animals enclosures (or exhibits), animals can and do eat this stuff, many times they can die or require costly surgery to remove your trash from their insides, so think about that next time you litter at a zoo or animal park. There are some places we simply haven’t taken our kids to because they are not ready for the experience yet. Sometimes its best to wait on the house of glass if you cannot control them or you cannot control yourself in this case.
Are you the same parents that think the kid falling in to the gorilla exhibit was just a “mistake”?
I don’t understand why any parent would bring a child under 5 to a museum period. They have a very short attention span and items in museums are very special. I know when I go to a museum, that I am going to see not only works of art but items from history that are being preserved. Some items are very delicate due to age and are corded off or encased in glass. I don’t believe young children should be allowed in certain areas at all. My children are grown now and as much as I love my grands, there is no way I would consider taking them to a museum, a theme park, yes but not a museum.
Unfortunately in China children are spoiled. They are only allowed to have one and it results in what they have coined “Little Emperor’s syndrome”. If you are only allowed to have one child by law it changes the mindset of parenting. They coddle and nurture their little ones forever.
I challenge the artist to re-create this piece using razors and call it ‘Wings of Hell’ and see if little Zhang Wei tries to break it.
There is no excuse for the lack of control these people have shown with these children! I am sick of the brats nowadays whose parents think they are the centre of everyone’s universe and should be able to express themselves as they want to! These children will grow up to be rotten to the core because no-one has taught them any better!
While I am glad that the museum has used the footage as part of the exhibit, I am also concerned that these “moms” and their children might be of the mentality to take pride in being the focus of attention for this. With that in mind, I agree with some other commenters that additional/official punishment is due here.
For all you idiots who wonder why this would happen. I’ll quote a comedian.
“Some people suck”- Tom Segura
If you are stuck wondering why something happened after it happened, you are just as stupid as the parents who let the kids destroy things.
Anyone remember last year or year before when some 12 year old stuck his gum on a painting in a museum in chicago I think it was…12 is certainly old enough to know better..Have people totally stopped raising their children all together?? I would have never dreamed of doing anything like that.
Haven’t read all the comments. Did anyone mention it is a sculpture MADE FROM SHARDS OF GLASS! Kid could have put out an eye.
My mom, before visiting any place that required me to be on my best behavior as a child used the magic words before we went in , “If you do anything that causes a problem I brought you into this world and I am not afraid to take you out” , mind you I was adopted and I knew it lol . This was still extremely effective somehow. With my own daughter I have never had to use those words I have gotten very good at the side eye , and have instilled just enough healthy fear that she is aware that poor behavior will unleash a sequence of consequences that she has absolutely zero interest in dealing with . These parents that video taped this and thought it was OK are without a doubt lacking and unfortunately never had anyone hold them to any expected standard .
As a parent I would be worried that they would be cutting their hands while punching glass but they seem to be fine with that too. What a couple of idiots
I see many parallels to the Cincinnati Zoo Harambe incident. And these brats often grow up into dangerous adults, like pit bull puppies. Generally you find that their parents are flakes and enablers.
How about this: surrender your phone at the desk or don’t expect to enter the gallery/museum. Your ability to make “moments” for sharing on social media (whether that’s video of your little vandals or a selfie with some famous thing in the background) is less important than just about everything else.