Afternoon Snooze Button

WARNING: video is gruesome and potentially offensive. Read this explanation before you try watching.

This is the video too inflammatory for the Smithsonian - late artist David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly.”

The four minute video was ordered removed from the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibit, Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, which is billed as “The first major museum exhibition to focus on sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture.”

It was removed after direct pressure was placed on the Smithsonian by Speaker of the House John Boehner and the Catholic League. They took offense to the video’s 11 second depiction of ants on the crucifix.

The video has been picked up by the International Center of Photography after being dropped by the Smithsonian. The ICP says of the video:

“Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) is recognized as one of the most influential artists of the late twentieth century. He made the video in 1987 in response to his own suffering and that of his friends in their struggle against AIDS. The unfinished video collage Fire in the Belly combines footage of cock-fighting, objects on fire, and Mexican Day of the Dead imagery as well as Christian symbolism. The video will be shown until February 13, as long as the exhibit at the Smithsonian will remain open.”

The video above is the 4 minute segment that was originally on exhibit at the Smithsonian. The full video is 13 minutes long, and can be found here.