What makes a masterpiece?
That’s the intriguing question I pondered all afternoon.
A colleague and I went to see The Louvre and the Masterpiece at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts today.
The exhibit was mounted by several curators from the Louvre, with the stated goal of exploring “why some artworks are masterpieces, while others are runners-up.”
I found that this philosophical backdrop greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the small—but surprisingly representative—exhibit.
There was no question that Antoine-Louis Baryé’s Lion with Serpent is a masterpiece. My friend commented that you could practically feel the soul of the lion coming through that bronze.
Ditto for Vermeer’s The Astronomer. For me, the man in that painting is still alive, bathed in sunlight, leaning forward in his chair.
To my surprise, though, I pondered whether Leonardo da Vinci’s beautiful Drapery Study was truly a masterpiece. It didn’t communicate anything to me beyond the artist’s extraordinary skill.
I was left wondering: If a drawing is devoid of emotion, is it still art? And what can be said of forgeries? Are they any less beautiful (or valuable) because they were created to defraud? Is a sculpture any less inspiring because it was made by a madman?
In the end, the exhibit didn’t answer any of these questions. But it did frame my appreciation of art in an entirely new light.
The Louvre and the Masterpiece is on display through January 10, 2010.
Filed under: MIscellanea | Leave a Comment
Tags: da Vinci, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Louvre and the Masterpiece, Vermeer
The Wall Street Confessional
My, how times have changed. Today’s Wall Street Journal offers a story about the growing popularity of women’s “shapewear.” Here are the first three paragraphs:
Before Jessica Kraus put on a tight-fitting frock one recent evening, she wriggled into a $76 piece of flesh-toned underwear that extended from the bottom of her bra to mid-thigh. She felt confident and svelte as she left her apartment to meet friends for cocktails.
Then a few hours later, the 25-year-old Boston event planner was faced with what she says was a “horrific situation.” As she was embracing a man she had met that night, Ms. Kraus got to thinking about what lurked beneath her sleek exterior.
“There’s no graceful way of taking the thing off,” she says.
I wonder whether Jessica would find it equally “horrific” to discover that her prelude to one-night-stand has been published internationally. Her parents must be so proud.
And what about the Wall Street Journal’s decision to run such a lurid lead for an otherwise solid trend story? Of that, no one should be proud.
Filed under: Weird news, Writing | Leave a Comment
Gallery of tough jobs
What do membership managers, therapists, curators, teachers, ministers, reporters, photographers, counselors, assisted-living directors, and TV producers have in common? According to CNNMoney.com, they all have “stressful jobs that pay badly.”
My friend Tom (“Mr. Blogfodder”) could not possibly have foreseen what perfect therapy his link would offer at the end of my own stressful day.
For me, one of the toughest things about being a writer is that everyone else is also a writer—technically, at least. I don’t have a particularly fragile ego, but it can wear thin when the only feedback I get is that my department’s copy “tends to have too many commas.”
I find myself longing for my past as a pre-press color technician.
Alas, gone are the days of defending my professional judgment with terms like “dot gain,” “chromatic aberration,” and “metamerism.” My only defense these days lies in verbs, nouns, objects, clauses, and periods. Oh, yeah—and commas. Way too many commas.
Filed under: Attempted humor, Writing | Leave a Comment
Weird news roundup
I love reading stories about people behaving badly. They make my life seem so pleasantly mundane. And thanks to the Star Tribune, today I’m feeling very mundane indeed. Here’s Wednesday’s weird news roundup:
First up, we have the news that Americans have bought 12 billion rounds of ammo in the past year. That’s enough to kill everyone on the planet twice!
Then, we have a man who stabbed himself so he wouldn’t have to go to work. Now, that’s dedication to truancy. Oh my God, buddy, just find a different job.
We have the mother and daughter who were allowed to exchange jail time for public humiliation by standing outside a Pennsylvania courthouse with a sign that admitted their crime. I suppose it’s better than cutting off their hands.
Finally, we have a heavy-set man in Florida who has robbed the same bank so many times that one teller anticipated his heist by saying, “He’s here again.” Hey, at least he’s found his niche. There’s something to be said for specialization.
Still, all of this weirdness pales in comparison to the mayoral feud in France. The mayors of two small cities outside Paris took their disagreement to the streets—literally!—a few weeks ago by making the same busy road a one-way street, but in opposite directions.
Wow.
Filed under: Attempted humor, Weird news | Leave a Comment
Seasonal apathetic disorder
One of the things I dread most about living in Minnesota is the day on which our clocks “fall back” by an hour. *Bing!* Suddenly sunlight is so scarce that I may as well be a mole.
To counteract the blahs, today I turned to Flickr.com for some tropical eye-candy. No sooner did the photo of a juicy orange appear on my screen than a tiny little fruit fly materialized, presumably to feast on the splendid treat. I can only imagine his disappointment at finding only dust and glass instead. Sorry, little buddy. I know how you feel.
Well, I’m off to vote in Minneapolis’ first-ever “instant runoff” election. I’ll be back tomorrow with the results.
UPDATE:
I went to vote after work, at about 6 p.m. or so, and was dismayed to discover that I was only the 107th person to cast a ballot in my district.
I left disheartened. How can we be so apathetic? When people are risking their lives in Iran and Afghanistan trying to secure their right to a free, fair election, most of my community can’t even be bothered to vote.
As if to add insult to injury, I arrived home to a survey from the Republican National Committee, which has apparently mistaken me for a True Believer. (For the record: I’m not loyal to any single party. The most sane, rational candidate who I believe will do most good for the most people gets my vote.)
Anyway, the first question on the RNC survey reads: “Do you agree with Barack Obama’s budget plan that will lead to a $23.1 trillion deficit over the next ten years?”
Um, OK. I’m not sure that figure is accurate, but no, I don’t agree with being $23.1 trillion in debt. My opinion aside, who are these guys to be pointing fingers? I have no rebuttal, except to say that, yes, our national budget is untenable. But it’s not Obama’s fault. And blaming him won’t solve the problem. If you’re not part of the solution, please get out of the way.
Oh, yes: I almost forgot. You’re waiting for my update on Minneapolis’ first instant-runoff election. I’m afraid there’s nothing to report, as there were no seriously contested big races—or snags. Maybe next time.
Filed under: Minnesota | Leave a Comment
Sunset clause
It’s no great secret that newspapers are in decline. But I had a sad reminder tonight of this failing industry’s human cost.
This evening I helped host a reunion for the photographers and imaging technicians with whom I used to work at the Star Tribune. My former boss and I sent out some 40 invitations. Only 7 people showed up (including me and my boss).
Around the table, the stories were the same: My former colleagues are struggling to find good jobs. They’re discovering that their skills won’t transfer to other industries. And, to a person, they’re facing some tough choices. Settle for being a security guard—or go back to school at age 55?
Never have I had so stark a reminder of how incredibly lucky I’ve been to land on my feet. And never have I been so acutely aware of how lucky I was to work at the Star Tribune back in its heyday, when it was vibrant and thriving.
I still have hope that my former colleagues will each find a new niche. But I don’t think I’ll be able to read another grim statistic about the decline of newspapers without also thinking about the human cost of that decline.
Filed under: Friends and family, Minnesota, Technology | Leave a Comment
Tags: journalism, newspaper decline, Star Tribune
Halloweiner 2009
It’s been a great day. I spent a king’s ransom—and then got way too wired—on kombucha. I puttered around the house and worked on my website. This afternoon, my friend Uta called and invited me over for some stöllen. Then, my friend Norine and her dog Mica stopped by.
So why does my day feel incomplete? It doesn’t feel like Halloween. Although Steve and I watched our traditional Halloween movie this evening, we had only one trick-or-treater: A little girl dressed up as Batman. Sigh.
I suppose I understand why parents might be reluctant to parade their children past strangers with candy. But I worry that a favorite cultural tradition is disappearing because of our collective (exaggerated) fears.
It’s good to acknowledge the spooky imaginary monsters that lurk our minds’ shadows. It’s good practice for dealing with the real monsters that roam the streets. (Like the Taliban suicide bombers who are targeting civilians and women. Monsters!)
Anyway, back to Halloween … I’d planned on writing a creepy ghost story to mark the occasion but I’ve run out of time. So instead, I’ll post the scariest thing I’ve heard today, courtesy of Norine:
Norine shares my distaste for large crowds, so this evening I suggested that we go to the State Fair together next year. “It would be good for us,” I said. “I bet we’d have fun.”
(If you’ve never been to the Minnesota State Fair, you’ll just have to imagine yourself among 200,000 sweaty people in cut-off jeans, all of them eating fried foods on a stick while roaming aimlessly like buffalo on the prairie.)
Norine didn’t look convinced. After I razzed her a bit, she explained that the last time she’d been to the Fair, she’d had a horrible experience. “Barn accident?” I wondered. “Bad ostrich-on-a-stick?”
Nope. Bad company.
One August a few years ago, a softball accident landed her (now ex-) husband in a wheelchair. In spite of Norine’s concerns, he was insistent on going to the Fair. And he wanted his friend Tom to come along, too.
As it happens, Tom is blind. So poor Norine spent her whole day trying to steer a wheelchair through the masses while leading a blind man by the arm.
Now, that’s horrible.
Happy Halloween!
Filed under: Attempted humor, Minnesota, On this day in history | Leave a Comment
Safety: A matter of perspective
So Forbes.com has named Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington as America’s safest city.
Never mind that I just rattled off three cities. (Does this mean we’re no longer the “Twin Cities”? I hope we’re not going to change our tagline. “The Triplet Cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington” just doesn’t have the same ring.)
Anyway, the folks at Forbes drew this conclusion about the cities-formerly-known-as-twins by compiling data on violent crime, workplace fatalities, traffic deaths, and risk of natural disaster. Apparently tornadoes, ice storms, blizzards, lightning, flash floods and hail don’t rate very high on the disaster-o-meter.
All kidding aside, it’s ironic that our safety supremacy should be trumpeted today. Just this morning, Steve warned me to be careful when getting out of my car in the alley, because of a recent string of muggings in our neighborhood. We had our car broken into last year, and a couple of months ago someone stabbed our garage door.
None of these facts make me feel “unsafe,” per se. But contrasting my own experiences with Forbes’ utopian vision is an excellent reminder that sometimes the statistics don’t tell the whole story.
Filed under: Minnesota, On this day in history, Psychology | Leave a Comment
For the past month, I’ve been attending an advanced French conversation class through community ed. It’s been wonderful to discover that I understand everything that’s being said, no matter the topic. It’s also been humbling to realize just how far I have to go.
Although I’ve worked hard to build my vocabulary—which now includes a smattering of slang such as “quel temps de chien” (“what crappy weather”) and “tant pis” (“too bad,” or “what a pisser”)—I still struggle to form complete sentences.
Last night it became painfully clear to me why: I’m stuck in the present.
If the topic of conversation is happening right now, I’m fine. But the instant I need to express uncertainty, inquire about some future event, or reminisce about the past, I’m sunk.
In a sense, it’s a very Zen approach to French. The past melds with the future, and I am forever experiencing everything right now.
But from a practical perspective, it’s totally unsatisfactory. Last night my fellow students squinted and cocked their heads as they struggled to unravel a timeline of events that I described as happening all at once.
Clearly, if I’m going to improve my French, I’ll have to memorize some verbs. The very thought fills me with dread. (In English we are blessed with 7 verb tenses. French has 14—that I know of.)
I realized last night that I have a choice: I’m either going to get truly serious about learning French, or I’m going to be content with just being a listener for the rest of my days.
Tough choice.
Filed under: MIscellanea, Paris | Leave a Comment
Bye bye, Big Mac
Add this one to the signs of a global economic meltdown: Iceland’s three McDonald’s restaurants will close next week.
I’ve watched Iceland’s economic collapse with great interest—and great sadness.
Steve and I have been fortunate to visit this beautiful, remote country twice. Both times we marveled at this tiny nation’s independent spirit and seemingly robust economy.
When we last visited in 2007, Iceland boasted one of the best standards of living in the world. Its GDP was about $20 billion, and unemployment was just 1%. The krona was comically strong against the dollar. (Two orders of chicken chow mein and two beers cost us $85.)
But that was before Iceland’s three largest banks collapsed.
Now, Iceland is struggling with 10% unemployment, inflation, spiraling debt, a devalued currency, and social turmoil. Sound familiar?
I’m not too worried about Iceland in the long run, though. These tough, resourceful people have survived for centuries on their barren land. They’ll survive in spite of the barren economic landscape.
In fact, it seems that they’re already applying their typical pragmatism to the McDonald’s problem: The owner plans to reopen the restaurants under a new name, “Metro,” while using locally sourced materials and retaining all 90 employees.
Steve and I hope to visit Iceland again soon. And we won’t miss McDonald’s one bit.
Filed under: On this day in history, Psychology, Travel | Leave a Comment
Tags: economic crisis, economy, Iceland, McDonald's
