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

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.

Illustration of Sir Francis Drake's exploration of the Pacific coast, 1579

Mountain climber depicted by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) of Germany

Ascent of the Lower Sinai Range by David Roberts (1796-1864) of Scotland

Shooting the Rapids by Robert Hughes Perrizo of Minnesota

Arctic scene (painting) by Cory Trepanier of Canada

Canyon Hikers by Judy Rider of North Carolina

Divers by Allison Moore

Flooded Forest, Rio Negro, Amazon, by Michael Rothman of Connecticut

The Lewis & Clark expedition, by Gary R. Lucy of Missouri

Road Trip to Taos, by Elizabeth Jose of New Mexico

Climbers on Third Cathedral by Michael E. Vermette of Maine

Kayaks, Morro Bay, by Cynthia Meyer of Central California

to all the sky lovers

to all the ground lovers         by Winslow Homer, 1869

to all the water lovers          by Nina Squire of the U.K.

Cheers to the spirit of exploring our fascinating planet.

THE ART OF REMEMRANCE

Many of us have visited traditional well known monuments and memorials around the country. Awe inspiring and thought provoking they are.

Recently I happened to come across a photo of a memorial I had never seen nor heard of, in Bosnia Herzegovina of all places. The striking beauty of this memorial to WWII made me wonder what other monuments are out there that I've never heard of.

Whether you see these stainless steel sculptures as wings or weapons, they are stunning on Omaha Beach in France, commemorating the Battle of Normandy in WWII.

Les Braves by Anilore Ban, 2004

In 2005 the city of Berlin installed a 4.7 acre memorial to the Jewish people who perished in the Holocaust. It contains 2,711 concrete slabs of various dimensions.

by Peter Eisenman & Buro Happold

In the 18th & 19th centuries, there were more slaves held in the Caribbean islands than in North America. This undersea memorial off the coast of Grenada commemorates the souls of living slaves thrown overboard from over crowded ships.

by Jason Decaires Taylor

This bold interpretation of the image of writer, orator, and statesman Frederick Douglass is found in Baltimore. Although it does remind me of the giant head in the 1974 science fiction movie, Zardoz, I do admire it.

by Marc Andre Robinson, 2006

I didn't know we had a stunning memorial to the Korean War in Washington D.C.  There are 19 of these statues patrolling through the grounds.

by Frank Gaylord, 1995

This steel sculpture of a miner commemorates those lost in a mining disaster in Wales.

The Guardian, by Sebastien Boyesen

CNN called this one of the ugliest monuments in the world, found in Belarus. I call it one of the scariest. It is called Valour, commemorating WWII bravery.

In 1997 an innovative memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt was dedicated. This part of the memorial park commemorates the Great Depression that he strove so hard to get America out of.

Breadline, by George Segal

Well, I didn't know where movie director James Cameron got his inspiration for the famous ship's bow "flying" scene for his movie, Titanic. Now I know. This Women's Titanic Memorial was built with donated funds from thousands of women in 1918, to honor the men who sacrificed their lives on the Titanic so that women and children could be saved.

In Washington D.C., by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

Dublin, Ireland hosts this moving memorial to the Great Potato Famine.

by Rowan Gillespi, 1997

Some that I admire most:

Under "construction" since 1948 in South Dakota, this ode to Chief Crazy Horse of the Sioux was begun by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. His wife Ruth and their children have continued since his death, and have finally completed the face. I saw this as a child, and at that time it just looked like a vague notch in the mountain. When completed it could be the largest sculpture on earth.

Monument to the late Martin Luther King Jr., in Washington D.C.

by Lei Yixin, 2011

The Vietnam War Memorial Wall and Statues

by 21 year old Maya Lin, 1982

Three Servicemen, by Frederick Hart, 1984

Vietnam Nurse Memorial, by Glenna Goodacre

The September 11 Memorial in NYC

design by Michael Arad & Handel Architects, 2011

And now for BOOBY PRIZES:

Sculptor Robert Berks' depictions of Albert Einstein, Mr. Rogers, and JFK.

1979, at the National Academy of Sciences

2009, in Pittsburg, PA

at the Kennedy Center for the Arts

Beloved Pope John Paul II appears as a space alien in Rome.

by Oliviero Rainaldi, 2011

Also in science fiction mode is MLK in Toledo, Ohio.

"Radiance", by Costancia Gaffeney & Will Clay

The prize for the most underwhelming monument goes to Mobridge, South Dakota, where the great Chief Sitting Bull may or may not be buried.

by Korczak Ziolkowski, 1953

To finish off, this is not a monument, but it drives me crazy every time I see it in the background on the tv news. The White House North Lawn Fountain. Insanely generic. It looks like a beverage coaster filled with water.Sometimes they try to hide it with flowers.

But getting back to the great monuments, we give thanks to those artists that have produced these mega installations and forever touched our hearts and souls.