Politics Across the Pond

Tate Britain, we learn today from the Guardian, has trimmed its tree with models of the 122 fighter jets currently in service, a politically-charged nod to the holidays by artist Fiona Banner titled Peace on Earth 2007.

Following Mark Wallinger's Turner Prize win on Monday for State Britain, a recreation of the peace protest that Brian Haw has staged outside parliament, and the opening of Santa's Ghetto, a temporary exhibition in Bethlehem meant to attract tourists to and interest in "one of the most contentious places on earth," it seems safe to say that it's been a particularly political week for the art world across the pond.

By comparison, the Christmas tree at the Met in New York is adorned with a "vivid 18th-century Neapolitan Nativity scene." The Art Institute of Chicago has forgone the traditional conifer for its annual "wreathing of the lions," whereby a large green-needled collar is placed over the heads of "stands in an attitude of defiance" and "on the prowl" — really, those are their names — guarding the museum entrance on Michigan Avenue.