Monday, September 19, A.D. 2011

World Trade Center

Last week, Americans commemorated the tenth anniversary of the the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. I found most occasions of public memorial rather distasteful. Modern American society pushes us to indulge in pathos. Moreover, as Lawrence Auster has often remarked, the officially sanctioned language regarding the horrible events ten years ago perverts the public understanding. The day was not one of tragedy but of malice and aggression. People did not just die; our enemies intentionally killed them. A decade later, many of us remain clueless and apathetic to the war without and the war within. Instead of waking to the problem, we have gone on a long ride that benefits politicians, war industrialists, and even our enemies. We are the suckers of world history.

One commemorative item that I found suitable was an interactive feature on the New York Times, “The World Trade Center Towers As They Were.” You may listen to a narration about the towers as you manipulate the device to look at a computer model of the World Trade Center complex. There are also interviews about the architecture, engineering, and art of the site. The Frenchman in the interview notes how the towers functioned as a compass for people who emerged from the subway. Such was true for my brothers and me when we visited the city. A glimpse of the towers informed us immediately which way was south. I was not a fan of the glass and steel design, but the complex was noble in its own way. Our nation has ceased to be so ambitious in our buildings. We have ceded civilizational confidence to other nations.

Posted by Joseph on Monday, September 19, A.D. 2011
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Friday, October 22, A.D. 2010

What Makes Us Smile?

Last week, I visited the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore to see the new exhibit, “What Makes Us Smile?” If you have never visited A.V.A.M., I highly recommend it. I think that it is an art museum that even people who hate art museums would like. I have been to several of their shows, and they are always fascinating. Their exhibitions, normally a year long, feature works that complement a chosen theme. The artists showcased are not professionally trained, and so the “feel” of the works is quite unexpected and independent. As the artists represent no school, the diversity of style is as broad as the human soul aspires. The exhibitions are well displayed and organized, too, with interesting information conveyed about the topic and about the artists.

The current exhibit mainly has to do with humor, and the walls around the artwork feature quotations and anecdotes about humor from anthropological and poetic perspectives. My favorite part of the show was the section on Oregon cartoonist John Callahan. I love mordant wit and contemn taboos; therefore, I found Callahan quite a congenial dissident. Callahan died this past summer, and A.V.A.M. presents his cartoons as a sort of memorial to him. Here is one of Callahan’s cartoons:

So, pray for the soul of John Callahan and make sure to visit the American Visionary Art Museum. Or visit Callahan’s soul and pray for the art museum. A trip to Baltimore puts all of the options on the table.

Posted by Joseph on Friday, October 22, A.D. 2010
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Thursday, July 30, A.D. 2009

Capitol Visitors Center

For my Dad and me, today marks the end of our short trip to New England. This afternoon, I’ll take him to Reagan National to catch a flight back to Cincinnati.

As my father has not been in D.C. since Bush’s second inauguration, I hope to show him the new Capitol Visitors’ Center this morning. I think that visiting the Capitol is so much better and more organized with the new center. I just want the landscape work to be finished; the grounds have been a mess for nine years.

Posted by Joseph on Thursday, July 30, A.D. 2009
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Wednesday, July 29, A.D. 2009

West Point

If everything goes as planned, my father and I shall visit the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York today on our way back from New England. After visiting Annapolis a dozen or so times, it will be interesting to see the “other side.”

If we have the time, we may stop for dinner in Pennsylvania Dutch country, which my father has never seen.

Posted by Joseph on Wednesday, July 29, A.D. 2009
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Tuesday, February 17, A.D. 2009

The Walters Art Museum

Over the weekend, I visited the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore for the second time. If you ever go to Maryland, it is worth your time to visit it.

The museum has a pleasant gallery exhibition plan that features mixed media in every room. If like many people, you tire of seeing painting after painting, the Walters’ rooms are set up like learning rooms or the halls of curiosity of European palaces, with paintings on the walls, objects of interest and sculptures on tables, and historical artifacts of practical use placed throughout.

Moreover, the diversity of the collection is impressive. You can visit art rooms from the Dutch Renaissance, an armor and weapons collection from the Holy Roman Empire, a treasury of macabre memento mori pieces, a gallery of French porcelain from Sèvres and Russian treasures from Fabergé, an Orthodox icon exhibit, several rooms dedicated to medieval Western life, culture, and religion, and even antiquities from Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, and Byzantium. Each period room contextualizes well its collection with complementary pieces and interestingly informative signs.

The museum has offered free admission for the last several years, and the surrounding neighborhood downtown is quite charming in Charm City. After the National Aquarium in Baltimore, it is the best attraction in town.

Posted by Joseph on Tuesday, February 17, A.D. 2009
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