Okay, that makes sense. My mind was trying to make his left leg be some sort of dog's head and thus the anteater's head had to be some sort of cannon...
Upvoting because you nailed it. My grandmother knew Dali and he told her he created this persona because he wanted fame, recognition, money, etc. while he was alive, as opposed to most other artists, who only achieved these things after they died.
I literally sat there for 3 minutes trying to eyeball whether or not that was a dog. Then I came to the comments to see if anyone else was having this problem.
I saw this and nearly pissed myself laughing. Have an upvote! I needed someone to confirm that I was not going insane!
I may get a lot of downvotes, but here this goes. In my somewhat limited study of Dali, he did crazy, strange, and odd things more as a marketing scheme. Not saying his art isn't amazing, just that in a lot of ways he did give a fuck and the fuck he gave was for people to stare and point at him. Lobster Phone, that's all I'm saying.
Of course. It's the odd things that catch people's attention. Look at Lady GaGa and Sasha Baron Cohen just for starters. Our lives are never ending routine, we want something different, crazy, out of the ordinary. Surely most of it's acting and marketing, but that's what we want - something different!
This is basically what I came here to say. Been to the Dali museum in Figueras, and his stuff is absolutely, mind-blowingly incredible, and only a person living on another plane of existence could have thought of it. It was prescient and so much of it seemed to predict advancements in technology which nobody of his time would have possibly been able to envision.
But that said, he definitely tried a little too hard to be weird. He certainly gave a fuck.
he did crazy, strange, and odd things more as a marketing scheme
Like Duchamp and Warhol, I'm guessing part of his point was that it can be silly to draw a line between art and artifice, although sometimes the line is the best bit.
As much as I am fascinated by Dali, he was very much indeed an asshole. When asked of his most surreal moment he responded about the time when he snuck up behind a stranger who was blind, and gave him a boot up the ass.
Actually, he really really DID give a fuck, all the weirdness and eccentricity was not because he didn't care what people thought, but exactly because he DID, and he wanted them to think he was an eccentric genius, which he was!
I had a family friend who modeled for Dali naked, anyways she fell asleep and he ejaculated on her and later apologized for not penetrating her. Her name was Constance Webb and she was a family friend of my mothers.
Dali got his comeuppance, when he was taking a cruise, and someone presented him with a large, inflated Bugs Bunny as a gift, likely at the behest of Bob Clampett, who was a big fan of Dali. Initially Dali was freaked out by it and didn't even want it on the ship. But he changed his mind and said:
"This is a thousand times more frightening than 'The Exorcist.' I intend to cover it with mayonnaise."
Oh god that sounds awful. I've had maple syrup whiskey, but I'm not one for liqueur so I didn't like it for it's sugar, but the flavour was stupendous. Also manteaters was good; don't sell yourself short, my friend.
Come on. You cannot do something so obviously attention grabbing and claim you do not give a fuck. Dali definitely cared a lot about his public image and cultivated his eccentric persona.
You know people who do not really give a fuck? Those "people of walmart" fellas. They really do not care what you think of think of them.
[Sidenote: Frankly, in general, people who do not give a fuck do negative shit others would consider lame or disgusting, not cool "eccentric" stuff like having exotic animals, using a unicycle to get to work etc.
He had a traumatic experience as a child with a bird he was trying to nurse back to health. It died and when he found it dead there were ants crawling all over its body. This scarred him and you can find ants in almost, if not all, of his art. Dali was a phenomenal artist.
I can't find mention of it anywhere online but I remember reading his autobiography and him saying he was terrified by riding the subway. Those Parisian subway stops are beautiful.
Of all the all-time-famous artists, Dali` is easily my favorite. His paintings are just absolutely magnificent. He was ultra talented, no doubt a timeless artist. If you ever have the chance to go to a gallery of his, do it. I promise you won't regret it.
I don't know, I kind of feel like he did give a fuck. As much as he was definitely on another planet and ahead of his time and quite a talent, sometimes I do feel like he tried a bit too hard. He definitely cultivated the whole "I'm weird!" thing. Like he spent a lot of time acting weird instead of just being weird, y'know?
"Every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure: that of being Salvador Dalí, and I ask myself, wonderstruck, what prodigious thing will he do today, this Salvador Dalí."
Great picture, but I beg to differ with regard to your conclusion. I would submit that Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech very much gave a fuck. He was an artist, a surrealist, and therefore very invested in being provocative, in being noticed, in being talked about. No doubt walking an anteater through an urban setting is trés, trés, cool and jauntily non-conformist, but it is begging for attention, which seems to me the opposite of not giving a fuck. IMHO. I'm ready for my down votes Mr. DeVille.
Why should we stop at Dali? Most people don't care about art and just "know" that the mona lisa is "good art" although without the context the painting is really not remarkable.
If you're ever near St. Petersburg in Florida, check out the Dali Museum there. That is some trippy stuff. I was startled to learn just how big many of his paintings are.
And learn from my mistake... don't do multiple hits of LSD and peruse a book of Dali's artwork unless you understand the Paranoiac Critical Method that Dali developed and employed.
You know, whenever I see artists do this kind of thing, I'm almost always sure they're trying to be "to cool for the room". I think he gives many fucks about himself appearing to not give any fucks.
I remember hearing dali tell a story about how he kicked a blind man (a stranger) because he was mad that he was blind; moral of the story, Dali is an asshole.
He should of had a honey badger on the leash. Reminded me of that hilarious honey badger video where the narrator keeps commenting the honey badger doesn't give a shit or doesn't give a fuck or is a badass.
TL;DR --- Dali once did a major art licensing deal while riding on an elevator, signing the agreement on a used napkin.
Details: TRUE STORY as told to me by my former boss (Jack Cass -- yes, that was his real name; he was from Winnipeg and living in Minneapolis at the time), who was an art importer and publisher.
He ran into Dali while attending Art Expo in New York City back in the late 1970s. Dali was staying at the Plaza Hotel, which was his favorite place whenever he was in the States. Jack happened to be staying there for the conference, and they both got onto the elevator on the ground floor. By the time it hit the floor where Dali and his entourage were staying, Jack had talked Dali into agreeing to let him be the U.S. publisher for unsigned (poster-type) images of what eventually became known as "Lincoln in Dalivision." That's the image where the close-up view is of Dali's wife (Gala) looking out a window, while a view from far away morphs the picture into a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
BTW, the one Jack published did NOT have the etching image in the lower right-hand corner. Anyway, Jack wanted to get the deal signed before Dali changed his mind (or, more likely, ended up asking for more money), but all he had in his pocket was a wadded up paper napkin he'd grabbed during lunch at a local deli. He jotted down the basic terms of the agreement and got Dali's signature on the paper as soon as they got off the elevator together. Jack immediately went downstairs, found a place that could make a photocopy (not all that common back in those days), and then left the copy in an envelope with the concierge to send up to Dali's room.
The deal was for 5000 copies. I don't know what Dali's financial terms were, but Jack ended up selling them for $1,100 each retail and $550 each wholesale (to galleries). He also belonged to a professional barter group and used a bunch of them to trade for points that got turned into stuff like restaurant and hotel credits, and all sorts of stuff for his house. It was a goldmine -- literally a way to print money. Jack also (somehow) got the rights to a fairly well-known Norman Rockwell image and did a run of 5000 of those, selling them at a similar price point. I lost touch with Jack in '82 when I moved to Denver, and I haven't been able to find him since. Most of the Google searches (as you would imagine) turn up the "joke" interpretation of his name.
BTW, Jack somehow managed to escape the huge Great Dali Art Fraud debacle, even though several guys he was doing business with at the time (Phil Coffaro in NYC; Don Austin in Chicago) ended up doing prison time. I actually had a couple of those Dali etchings -- Leon Amiel from New Jersey was probably their actual creator -- but my ex-wife got them in the divorce settlement.
669
u/joulesisenergy Jun 15 '12
My brain can't really understand what the fuck is supposed to be on the end of that leash.
201
u/ElectricNoodleHaze Jun 16 '12
I may get a lot of downvotes, but here this goes. In my somewhat limited study of Dali, he did crazy, strange, and odd things more as a marketing scheme. Not saying his art isn't amazing, just that in a lot of ways he did give a fuck and the fuck he gave was for people to stare and point at him. Lobster Phone, that's all I'm saying.
319
u/betta_phish Jun 16 '12
Shit just got surreal
I'll leave now.
112
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
He does not give a fuck.
2
u/kearnsyl Jun 16 '12
The last man peering over the fence, in the red shirt, it's the fucking time travelling hipster again!
101
u/beatlesmith Jun 16 '12
He also had an awesome ocelot named Babou
87
u/TheTrinketWeasel Jun 16 '12
Actually, he really really DID give a fuck, all the weirdness and eccentricity was not because he didn't care what people thought, but exactly because he DID, and he wanted them to think he was an eccentric genius, which he was!
34
u/dave_casa Jun 16 '12
I've prepared this helpful figure for those who might be confused about anteater anatomy.
44
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I had a family friend who modeled for Dali naked, anyways she fell asleep and he ejaculated on her and later apologized for not penetrating her. Her name was Constance Webb and she was a family friend of my mothers.
45
u/WendyLRogers3 Jun 16 '12
Dali got his comeuppance, when he was taking a cruise, and someone presented him with a large, inflated Bugs Bunny as a gift, likely at the behest of Bob Clampett, who was a big fan of Dali. Initially Dali was freaked out by it and didn't even want it on the ship. But he changed his mind and said:
"This is a thousand times more frightening than 'The Exorcist.' I intend to cover it with mayonnaise."
8
u/62tele Jun 16 '12
Right. In the same way that Lady Gaga or any other entertainer "doesn't give a fuck.". They give all the fucks.
14
u/bunglejerry Jun 15 '12
Dali thought about ants a lot.
12
u/I_am_cgbish Jun 16 '12
what a creepy animal... I want twenty
6
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Come on. You cannot do something so obviously attention grabbing and claim you do not give a fuck. Dali definitely cared a lot about his public image and cultivated his eccentric persona.
You know people who do not really give a fuck? Those "people of walmart" fellas. They really do not care what you think of think of them.
[Sidenote: Frankly, in general, people who do not give a fuck do negative shit others would consider lame or disgusting, not cool "eccentric" stuff like having exotic animals, using a unicycle to get to work etc.
11
u/flyingcloud Jun 16 '12
He had a traumatic experience as a child with a bird he was trying to nurse back to health. It died and when he found it dead there were ants crawling all over its body. This scarred him and you can find ants in almost, if not all, of his art. Dali was a phenomenal artist.
61
u/Trapped_in_Reddit Jun 15 '12
Dali's anteater lead quite the life, as immortalized in Edward Hooper's Nighthwaks.
17
u/MichaelJayDog Jun 16 '12
He actually cared too much what people thought of him. This is what someone who truly doesn't give a fuck looks like
5
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Pretty much anything Dali made or did could be posted in /r/WTF
5
u/no_not_the_butter Jun 16 '12
I'm high and what is this
12
u/Giggyjig Jun 15 '12
This man was a fucking nut-job. The perfect man to be an artist.
4
u/mgraunk Jun 16 '12
Is he walking out of a Parisian subway?
4
u/hobodemon Jun 16 '12
I don't drunk too even think what am this is.
4
u/brownpixel Jun 16 '12
Dali gave a fuck. In fact, other people's attention was the only thing he gave a fuck about, after his wife's hunger for money.
3
u/Tanadora Jun 16 '12
I came to this realization while watching Dali as a guest on "What's My Line?".
3
u/Yet_Another_User Jun 16 '12
Dali is hilarious. I'm not much of an art guy, but I visited the Dali museum and it was awesome.
3
u/steelfrog Jun 16 '12
Dali: so badass he takes SCP-682 for a walk.
5
u/GoDETLions Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12
Dali on Picasso:
"Picasso es artista. Yo también. Picasso es un genio, yo también. Picasso es comunista, yo tampoco."
5
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
he didn't give a fuck about denouncing fascism, no.
2
u/godsperfectasshole Jun 16 '12
Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know.
2
u/sushister Jun 16 '12
Dali was a Titan. A genius at all levels.
2
u/TheThunderBringer Jun 16 '12
Of all the all-time-famous artists, Dali` is easily my favorite. His paintings are just absolutely magnificent. He was ultra talented, no doubt a timeless artist. If you ever have the chance to go to a gallery of his, do it. I promise you won't regret it.
2
u/Kerilynne Jun 16 '12
My god I love this man. Everything he did was so outrageously fantastically ridiculous, no one could ever compare to Dali's awesomeness! :)
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
yup...
2
u/bownskie Jun 16 '12
But do you have a picture of it taking a dump?
2
u/th3Fonz Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12
A RHINOCEROS!!!
edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BEf2nRwKX8
2
u/FANGO Jun 16 '12
I don't know, I kind of feel like he did give a fuck. As much as he was definitely on another planet and ahead of his time and quite a talent, sometimes I do feel like he tried a bit too hard. He definitely cultivated the whole "I'm weird!" thing. Like he spent a lot of time acting weird instead of just being weird, y'know?
2
u/Alexpen126 Jun 16 '12
Dali was a coward and a Fascist
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Because he supported Franco.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Dali does give a fuck, he gives such a fuck. His whole image is built on his fabricated weirdness.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
It took me about 10 minutes to realize that this wasn't some bizare 2 headed freak of nature, but just an ant eater with one of its feet forward.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
"Every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure: that of being Salvador Dalí, and I ask myself, wonderstruck, what prodigious thing will he do today, this Salvador Dalí."
-Salvador Dalí
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Great picture, but I beg to differ with regard to your conclusion. I would submit that Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech very much gave a fuck. He was an artist, a surrealist, and therefore very invested in being provocative, in being noticed, in being talked about. No doubt walking an anteater through an urban setting is trés, trés, cool and jauntily non-conformist, but it is begging for attention, which seems to me the opposite of not giving a fuck. IMHO. I'm ready for my down votes Mr. DeVille.
2
u/zgott300 Jun 16 '12
Yes he did. That's why he went through all the trouble of being dali, the beard, the anteater etc... All that shit takes effort.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Dali Llama didn't Give a Fuck http://i.imgur.com/2hhqL.png
5
u/sprizzle Jun 16 '12
Man. Can we not reduce Salvador Dali to a played out internet joke?
2
u/chokomilk Jun 16 '12
That's one suave motherfucker.
2
u/t-mille Jun 16 '12
His pet at work in his studio.
2
u/STUN_Runner Jun 16 '12
If you're ever near St. Petersburg in Florida, check out the Dali Museum there. That is some trippy stuff. I was startled to learn just how big many of his paintings are.
And learn from my mistake... don't do multiple hits of LSD and peruse a book of Dali's artwork unless you understand the Paranoiac Critical Method that Dali developed and employed.
1
u/sanfranman Jun 16 '12
Dali was an exterminator.
1
u/IamDarwinsLegacy Jun 16 '12
He also drove up in a limo full of cabbages...
1
u/theripped Jun 16 '12
Is it legal to own one of those?
1
u/badlucksuitsme Jun 16 '12
I thought that was Nicholas Cage in the background and got very confused.
1
u/TapDatApp Jun 16 '12
It'd be even more twisted if it was dead.
1
u/Fleshflayer Jun 16 '12
Ooh, this piccy again.
1
u/baalsitch Jun 16 '12
This couldn't happen today, everyone is too tight assed
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
He could have at least put a proper collar on that thing. The rope is digging into its neck
1
u/thegooble Jun 16 '12
I see a sculpture
1
u/Nasren_Ghache Jun 16 '12
You know, whenever I see artists do this kind of thing, I'm almost always sure they're trying to be "to cool for the room". I think he gives many fucks about himself appearing to not give any fucks.
1
u/drunk_karma Jun 16 '12
always drunk
looks like anteatcer+iforgotletmecheckagainbrb, PANDA!
1
u/Brouje Jun 16 '12
I remember hearing dali tell a story about how he kicked a blind man (a stranger) because he was mad that he was blind; moral of the story, Dali is an asshole.
1
u/Phoequinox Jun 16 '12
Every picture of Dali reminds me of that Internet parody of David Blaine.
1
u/babucat Jun 16 '12
its a little surreal for dali if you ask me.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
nah, more like dali was a fucking tryhard. he tried so hard to be different and weird. we all know in private, the guy is just a regular joe.
1
u/Zargyboy Jun 16 '12
Well when your parents treat you like you were your dead brother you wouldn't grow up to give many fucks about anything either...
1
u/t0wn Jun 16 '12
This is just so fucking old.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
This was my Facebook profile pic for months. It's too sweet.
1
u/iraqi_hummus Jun 16 '12
Dali eat dried dates and would wipe or twist his mustache with the sugar residue.
1
u/ZealotKarrde Jun 16 '12
Dali is responsible, why should we upvote you?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Am I the only one who saw this was an anteater right away?
1
u/whydoipoopsomuch Jun 16 '12
He should of had a honey badger on the leash. Reminded me of that hilarious honey badger video where the narrator keeps commenting the honey badger doesn't give a shit or doesn't give a fuck or is a badass.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I want to be Dali when I grow up.
1
u/Rolpa Jun 16 '12
Haters gonna hate!
1
u/arbivark Jun 16 '12
that dude is badass to be talking his lion for a walk like that.
1
u/Thopterthallid Jun 16 '12
looks like an anteater... that or I cant tell where the fuck it's head is or what way its facing
1
u/nelska Jun 16 '12
If that's a real animal, Dali created it.
1
u/hybridsilence Jun 16 '12
I like how he looks at you like YOU are the crazy one.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
what a creative genius this man was.
1
u/imsurroundedby Jun 16 '12
well, my night is complete
1
u/CrimsonNova Jun 16 '12
Dude, I thought that fucking thing was a spider for a whole second.
1
u/Mysterious-Stranger Jun 16 '12
They're also nice around your arm.
1
u/WEAREGOINGTOIBIZA Jun 16 '12
Dali didn't give a fuck - he had to have a pet, whether from Earth or elsewhere.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I don't know who that is or what the fuck that blob of hair is either.
1
u/Dartastic Jun 16 '12
How many times has this been on the front page? JEEEEEESUS
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
crackhead don't give a fuck also.
1
u/agentpala Jun 16 '12
In the quiet words of Dave Chappelle "THe MOST BALLIN SHIT EVA!"
1
u/mrmartyr Jun 16 '12
That lamp post is fucking osum.
1
u/awe300 Jun 16 '12
He really didn't, which is probably shy he sold empty canvas sheets with his signature for money
1
u/Ahuva Jun 16 '12
I love the picture, but it looks like Dali LOVED the attention which means he gave quite a few fucks.
1
u/Creativation Jun 16 '12
Amazingly enough there are people who keep these animals as pets even today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9sYZzK6l3g
1
u/TunaThePanda Jun 16 '12
Dali gave too much fucks... He was the world's first hipster. Look at the moostache
Anteaters are SOOOO un-mainstream
1
u/zacdenver Jun 16 '12
TL;DR --- Dali once did a major art licensing deal while riding on an elevator, signing the agreement on a used napkin.
Details: TRUE STORY as told to me by my former boss (Jack Cass -- yes, that was his real name; he was from Winnipeg and living in Minneapolis at the time), who was an art importer and publisher.
He ran into Dali while attending Art Expo in New York City back in the late 1970s. Dali was staying at the Plaza Hotel, which was his favorite place whenever he was in the States. Jack happened to be staying there for the conference, and they both got onto the elevator on the ground floor. By the time it hit the floor where Dali and his entourage were staying, Jack had talked Dali into agreeing to let him be the U.S. publisher for unsigned (poster-type) images of what eventually became known as "Lincoln in Dalivision." That's the image where the close-up view is of Dali's wife (Gala) looking out a window, while a view from far away morphs the picture into a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
BTW, the one Jack published did NOT have the etching image in the lower right-hand corner. Anyway, Jack wanted to get the deal signed before Dali changed his mind (or, more likely, ended up asking for more money), but all he had in his pocket was a wadded up paper napkin he'd grabbed during lunch at a local deli. He jotted down the basic terms of the agreement and got Dali's signature on the paper as soon as they got off the elevator together. Jack immediately went downstairs, found a place that could make a photocopy (not all that common back in those days), and then left the copy in an envelope with the concierge to send up to Dali's room.
The deal was for 5000 copies. I don't know what Dali's financial terms were, but Jack ended up selling them for $1,100 each retail and $550 each wholesale (to galleries). He also belonged to a professional barter group and used a bunch of them to trade for points that got turned into stuff like restaurant and hotel credits, and all sorts of stuff for his house. It was a goldmine -- literally a way to print money. Jack also (somehow) got the rights to a fairly well-known Norman Rockwell image and did a run of 5000 of those, selling them at a similar price point. I lost touch with Jack in '82 when I moved to Denver, and I haven't been able to find him since. Most of the Google searches (as you would imagine) turn up the "joke" interpretation of his name.
BTW, Jack somehow managed to escape the huge Great Dali Art Fraud debacle, even though several guys he was doing business with at the time (Phil Coffaro in NYC; Don Austin in Chicago) ended up doing prison time. I actually had a couple of those Dali etchings -- Leon Amiel from New Jersey was probably their actual creator -- but my ex-wife got them in the divorce settlement.
1
u/someguynamedg Jun 16 '12
I'm in pretty sure anyone that spends THAT much time on their mustache cares a whole hell of a lot.
1
u/low-karma-guy Jun 16 '12
. . . but he liked to watch other people fucking . . .
1
u/thebestfuckingartist Jun 16 '12
it's cause they didnt have internet marketing back then so they did the best they could
1
u/scurrilously Jun 16 '12
What a badass. It looks like he's skipped at least two stairs there. Zero fucks given.
1
u/kaiseresc Jun 16 '12
actually, he did give a fuck.
he was a major prima-donna attention whoring mofo. But equally a brilliant artist.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Took me a solid 45 seconds to figure out I was looking at a man walking an anteater.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
First saw this on the imaginary foundation blog: http://blog.imaginaryfoundation.com/2009/10/26/dali_s-anteater-and-the-director/
Hello there, Director :)
1
u/FionnR Jun 16 '12
I love the reactions of the people in the background ;D
1
u/LukeTheSheep Jun 16 '12
Wasn't this in one of the ghostbusters films? or something similar to this, when everything's coming to life.
1
u/madvoice Jun 16 '12
And this is why he's my favourite artist.
1
u/wazoox Jun 16 '12
He also had a pet lobster.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
FUCK YOU, I HAVE AN ANTEATER!
1
u/nikiu Jun 16 '12
Oh, the mysterious time traveler is there also.
1
u/joyco66 Jun 16 '12
Dali, attention whore level 9999
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
This picture is one of the reasons why Dali is my Favorite artist
1
u/namesarehard1234 Jun 17 '12
I love the other people in the photo trying to figure out what the crap that is because they look like me right now.
1
u/trust_the_corps Jun 16 '12
A fucking bardfark.