A gross work of "art"

I've been intending to write about the Entropa "work of art" for a good while, but never got round to do it yet, generally due to Capital Radio's advert production team hogging most of my attention.

Quite frankly, I agree with those who find this object offensive. It's not a matter of people taking themselves too seriously. Neither are they lacking a sense of humour. To see the funny side of something, it needs to have a funny side. Depicting Bulgaria as a Turkish toilet, Germany as a network of autobahns resembling a swastika, and Greece as a country on fire is not funny at all, and is disrespectful in the extreme.

During the current Czech presidency, Entropa "graces" the entrance of the Justus Lipsius building that houses the Council of the European Union. As you enter you are greeted with grotesque roars emanating from a figure representing Vladimir Dracula, the supposed stereotype of Romania, resting on top of the gross object. It's as if you're entering a lunapark.

My, oh my, how funny. My sides are splitting with laughter. The Czechs' theme for the presidency is that they want to pull down the existing barriers, symbolic or otherwise, within the Union. The highlighting of their commissioned artist's own prejudices about various fellow member states has had exactly the opposite effect, and especially in their own regard.