White elephant
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| + | # An [[albino]] elephant. | ||
| + | # An [[ornament]] etc that is [[unwanted]] or is a [[financial]] [[burden]]; an [[unprofitable]] [[investment]]. | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | ''[[White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art]]'' | ||
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| - | [[White Elephant Art vs. Termite Art]] is a [[film essay]] by [[Manny Farber]], which originally appeared in ''[[Film Culture]]'' in [[1962]], collected in the anthology ''[[Negative Space]]''. In it he writes on the virtues of "termite art" and the excesses of "white elephant art," and eloquently champions the [[B-movie|B film]] and [[under-appreciated]] [[auteur]]s, which he felt were able, termite-like, to burrow into a topic. Bloated, pretentious, [[white elephant]] art lacks the economy of expression found in the greatest works of termite art. | + | A '''white elephant''' is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose [[cost]] (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its [[usefulness]]. |
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| + | ==Etymology== | ||
| + | In [[Siam]] elephants were working animals. However, white (albino) elephants were considered [[sacred]] and therefore were not to be put to work. The owner was then left to feed the elephant but could get no work from it. It is said that the King of Siam used to make a present of a white elephant to courtiers he wanted to ruin. | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[White elephant gift exchange]] | ||
| + | * [[Bridge to nowhere]] | ||
| + | * [[Escalation of commitment]] (sunk cost fallacy) | ||
| + | * [[Pork barrel]] | ||
| - | "Termite-tapeworm-fungus-moss art," Farber contends, "goes always forward eating its own boundaries, and, like as not, leaves nothing in its path other than the signs of eager, industrious, unkempt activity." | ||
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A white elephant is a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness.
[edit]
Etymology
In Siam elephants were working animals. However, white (albino) elephants were considered sacred and therefore were not to be put to work. The owner was then left to feed the elephant but could get no work from it. It is said that the King of Siam used to make a present of a white elephant to courtiers he wanted to ruin.
[edit]
See also
- White elephant gift exchange
- Bridge to nowhere
- Escalation of commitment (sunk cost fallacy)
- Pork barrel
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "White elephant" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
