Art In My View: October 2014

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

NOW PANIC & FREAK OUT

The thing they seem to be failing to factor into the discussions about the virus which is currently terrifying our country, is human behavior.

Most of us live in a current of humanity that is somewhere between this

and this.

We have been connecting to each other since the beginning.

from Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti Simoni

We gathered together early on in order to survive.

Our destinies intertwined and flowed like water.

Faith Like Flowing Water by Harriet Zabusky-Zand of Cape Cod

We reached out across the planet, to the enrichment of some and the detriment of others.

We gathered together to hear stories about humanity enacted before us.

Queen Elizabeth at the Globe, by David Scott, 1840

In celebrations of the amazing and the absurd, we sat together in awe.

The Circus, by George Seurat

No one could stop our advancement across the lands.

Watching the Wagon Train, by Oscar Edmund Berninghaus

When mechanization came, we gladly bunched our selves together for transport.

The Train Journey, by Tirzah Garwood, 1929-1930

Bus Riders, by George Segal, 1962

Modern coliseums were built so that we all could witness great games,

Earle Combes, by Paul Lempa of New Jersey

and grand parks were built so that we could experience fun just for its own sake.

Bumper Cars Amusement Park, by Heidi Malott of Indiana

What a comforting feeling to join others for a meal.

Diner, by Ralph Goings of California

The common joy of watching a parade.

PDQ, by Susan MacMillan of California

Sometimes we wait and wait and wait together.

Waiting on a Plane, by Jessica Cook of Texas

Sometimes we roll together,

Coming and Going, by Wayne Thiebaud of California

or not.

Taxi a New York, by Guido Borelli of Italy

We amble and mill about in our towns and cities

Restaurant Amir International Cafe, by Carole Spandau of Montreal

for purpose, pleasure, or addiction.

Starbucks Still Life, by Robert Joyner of Virginia

So, as mentioned at the beginning, our innate human behavior is a part of the mix in this viral drama happening right now. We cannot and should not stop these tendencies. Just be careful, not fearful.
We can't let the media talking heads scare us away from each other.

Girl Watching TV, by Tracy, 1988

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

THE ADVENTURE GENE

These are my parents. My mother scaling a cliff using a rope tied to our VW. My father on one of his solo backpacking trips in the Southern California mountains.

These two didn't grow up on ranches or farms. They came of age in the Southern California suburbs. There must be an adventure gene.

Back in the 1950's they would drive the family out to the Southern California deserts to camp. Can you imagine sleeping beneath these boulders? Notice the green tent back in the boulders, as well as the two little girls.

And there was that little family drive over the Rockies. It really was summer.

How about camping along a remote coastal sand dune in Baja Mexico, arrived at by many, many miles of bad unpaved roads, and with the only translating being done by a teenage daughter equipped with high school Spanish speaking skills.

My one true wilderness adventure: backpacking for a week in the Sierra outback with my dad when I was 18. No roads, no phones. He proved to be a very capable guide.

After we kids were grown, my parents, who were in their 70's at the time, leased a lovely sailboat and cruised the Virgin Islands for two weeks, all by themselves. I worried the whole time that they would be accosted by pirate types, but they returned and said it was like heaven.

I salute the adventurers of the world. I am for the most part not one of them, except when I was in tow by my parents. In hind site it was a valuable gift that they gave us three kids.
Of course the arts like to honor adventurers, especially in film, but painters too try to capture the beauty and dynamics of world adventures.