People

By Michele Orecklin

LOST MARBLES

Art is a controversial business. So is celebrity. When the two mix, passions rage. Witness these recent culture clashes.

--In Freehold, N.J., Mayor Michael Wilson proposed erecting a statue of hometown hero BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. But plans for the memorial were scrapped last week when the cost became prohibitive. Mayor Wilson revealed that public support was only tepid to begin with.

--For her birthday, SHIRLEY JONES' husband Marty Ingels wanted to give his wife a statue of herself in her hometown of Smithton, Pa. However, Ingels and the town elders could not agree on a suitable location. "What started out to be a lovely, joyous thing has become Vietnam, Hiroshima," said Ingels.

--It's no better overseas. In a Scottish sculpting competition last month, first prize was awarded to a 3-ft.-high Elvis made of lard. Alas, the masterpiece will last only six months.

BROOKS' OTHER

The man pictured above is not a moody, gaunt rock star. He is an avuncular, moonfaced country star with a rather inspired makeup job. But in the tradition of actual moody, gaunt rock stars like David Bowie, GARTH BROOKS has assumed an alter ego named Chris Gaines. Brooks will play Gaines in The Lamb, a film to be released next year. To create buzz for the movie, Brooks will release an album of greatest hits from Gaines' 15-year career. In fact, all the songs on the album are new. "We wrote songs to sound like they came from different periods," explains Pat Quigley, president of Capitol Records in Nashville, Tenn. "We have a Stevie Wonder period, a Babyface period." Still with us? Good, because when the film comes out, an entirely different set of Chris Gaines songs will be released as a sound-track album. Ah, if only the Padres had let him play right field.

BUT WILL IT LAST?

Last week former Dynasty actress CATHERINE OXENBERG married Starship Troopers actor CASPER VAN DIEN.

PROS --Inviting an Elvis impersonator to their Las Vegas wedding shows they are comfortable with farce --He starred in a TV series called Dangerous Women; she starred in a TV show called Treacherous Beauties --She's the daughter of the Princess of Yugoslavia; he was King Tal in Beastmaster III

CONS --Diverse cultural backgrounds: she's the second cousin of Prince Charles; he grew up in Ridgefield, N.J. --She may have picked up some bad marriage tips from twice playing Princess Diana in TV movies --Her last marriage, to producer Robert Evans in 1998, was annulled after 12 days

YES! They've already surpassed the seven-day itch

SCARING UP CUSTOMERS

Though Egyptian billionaire MOHAMED AL-FAYED failed to win British citizenship (again) this month, it hasn't impeded his plans to spend eternity in the U.K. Fayed, whose son Dodi died in the car crash that also killed Princess Diana, owns the London department store Harrods. Last week Fayed's spokesman said the Anglophile tycoon would like to have himself mummified after death, then have his coffin placed in a dome at the top of the store. The spokesman also said, hopefully in jest, that Fayed would like to have "a hundred clones of himself made so he can come back to haunt the British establishment." Apparently, you can take chagrin with you.