WP on art world idiocy
Many contemporary artists and collectors just make this sort of criticism write itself.
Meanwhile, Tyler Green seems to think this demonstrates "cluelessness" on the part of the Post. Sorry, but calling bullshit on this sort of scam only demonstrates discernment, maybe even common sense.
By the end of his article, I think Segal wound up being very reasonable toward Friedman and his work.
I really didn't see him "calling bullshit" on any sort of scam, as you say, though there wer certainly gestures in that direction. I also didn't see him really parading a lack of curiosity about the work, as Tyler says.
To wit:
"If you're expecting a prankster or someone guffawing behind the back of his admirers, Friedman is a surprise. He's an earnest guy and although he recognizes that a lot of his art is funny, he isn't joking, nor is he playing for laughs. About his work, he's entirely candid and, frankly, the more he explains it, the more compelling it seems."
"'I'll either have an idea that will lead me to a material, or I'll see a material that will lead me to an idea,' he says. He tends to use stuff that you'd find around the house (glue, paper, Play-Doh), so that hey-I-could-do-that response is no accident. That squiggle aside, most of his work is obsessively composed. He once carved a self-portrait on an aspirin. (And it looks like him!) He made a perfect sphere out 1,500 pieces of bubble gum he chewed, which he then wedged into the corner of a wall. Another time he placed his pubic hairs on a bar of soap, arranging them in perfect circles, like the rings on a radar screen."