Month: January 2006

It Sounded Good on… A Visit to The Robert C. Williams Paper Museum

A couple of days ago, my workday at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center ended a little early. I had been asking the folks I was working with if there were any small/quirky museums to hit in town that I didn’t know about. They mentioned The Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at Georgia Tech. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Holy crap, a whole museum dedicated to paper!!! I wish I was there right now!”

The above image is one of the many watermarks that the museum has. These hidden images were incorperated into blank paper, and had been initially used to show that skilled workers were used in paper production.

The exhibition spaces aren’t huge, but the displays are a lot more interesting than they should be and the collection of artifacts cover more centuries and countries then I ever imagined.

And it’s free. So… um… paper museum, cool.

Wordlyiness: Being Like A Dictionary

So the word “truthiness” has been nominated as the word of the year by the American Dialect Society.

If you are a fan of the Colbert Report, you already knew that, because host Stephen Colbert made up that word in the first place.

Amber posted about Hetemeel.com’s Dynamic image Maker which was used to make the above dictionary entry. Definition #1 is mine and #2 from the American Dialect Society.

Truthiness, use it daily.

Searching for Deeper Meaning: Art and A Conspiritorial Family Tree

“Whenever we have spoken openly we have [actually] said nothing. But where we have written something in code and in pictures we have concealed the truth.” Rosarium philosophorum 1550 (Weinheim edition, 1990)

Between experience and language, some believe that something is lost. That using words, spoken or written, is inadiquite to convey the real experience, the true meaning of what was realized. The closest thing that tells the tale is imagery: drawings, paintings. Filled with symbolism, artists often try to convey a deeper truth, something otherwise unseen. This is the start of Gnostic belief and much art was created to document these ideals.

Secret societies often have symbols that have meaning beyond their actual purpose. Often at their start, these often were just non-church related groups coming together. The cryptic nature of the teachings of these groups often lead to suspicion about their agendas. But with the French Revolution, such influence of the Masons was easy to see. Note the All-Seeing-Eye at the top of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789

The Masons also visually use tools of stonecraft to illustrate how Freemasonry helps a member change their unformed shape and use the tools to refine themselves into something new.

Clarence Larkin (1850–1924) used imagery as a teaching aid, to document where we are within the timeline of the god’s design, the shape of heaven, hell and earth; and what needs to happen before the end times.

He even gave a guide on how to color-code and notate the bible. “Use markers, which make a transparent line, to draw over the lines of a verse of scripture. Use scarlet for the “promises”, green for “condemnation”, brown for death and resurrection”, etc. Draw a red ellipse around the word BLOOD all through. the Bible and fill it with red.”

Visionary artist often talk of having a direct pipeline to god or a spiritual realm. They see the unseen hand, the hidden mechinisms at work that others can’t see. Artist like Paul Lauffely use diagramic thinking to illustate higher states of being, hidden meanings and the way the world truly works. His pieces bring back text, to explain and add to his visual imagery.

All of this comes to the artist who got me thinking about all these things. My love of art and conspiracy therories merged when hearing yesterday about artist Mark Lombardi.

NPR did a story on him, The ‘Conspiracy’ Art of Mark Lombardi, which talks of his his need to document the scandals and conspiracies he saw.

“bill clinton, lippo group and china ocean shipping co. aka COSCO
little rock-jakarta-hong kong c.1990s (5th version), 1999″

His works, based on years of research, chart lines of influence in business and politics, link individuals with corperations and groups, and show relationships to various centers of power. It his documentation of a broad world-view that relates his pieces to the people mentioned above.

His works are part of the traveling show global networks., which will not be anywhere near Atlanta. But I may be getting the show catalog.

And adding fuel to the conspiratorial fire, Mark was found hung in 2000, which was ruled a suicide.

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Ask E.T.: Mark Lombardi influenced by Envisioning Information
(Mark Lombardi) arts / w b u r g
The Structure of Consciousness – Liminocentricity,
Enantiodromia, and Personality

Thinking of Poetry While My Wife is Away (Smutty)

Absence is making me fond of smutty poetry. I’m looking forward to my wife’s return in a few days.

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John Peale Bishop
The Collected Poems of John Peale Bishop, edited by Allen Tate (New York & London, 1948).
Written circa 1928

Boys, by girls held in their thighs,
Shudder, and turn back their eyes.
It is as well they never see
The brute approach of ecstasy.

First read here.

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If you took freshman english and were forced to buy “The Norton Anthology of English Literature”, chances are that this poem was in it. Short Biography.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Episcopal minister. Died and was buried a bachelor in 1674 at the age of eighty-three.

The Vine

I dreamed this mortal part of mine
Was metamorphosed to a vine,
Which crawling one and every way
Enthralled my dainty Lucia.
Methought her long small legs and thighs
I with my tendrils did surprise;
Her belly, buttocks, and her waist
By my soft nervelets were embraced.
About her head I writhing hung,
And with rich clusters (hid among
The leaves) her temples I behung,
So that my Lucia seemed to me
Young Bacchus ravished by his tree.
My curls about her neck did crawl,
And arms and hands they did enthrall,
So that she could not freely stir
(all parts there made one prisoner).
But when I crept with leaves to hide
Those parts which maids keep unespied,
Such fleeting pleasures there I took
That with the fancy I awoke;
And found (ah me!) this flesh is mine
More like a stock than like a vine.

Work Too Much?: Maybe Not Such A Good Idea

It’s at this late date that I think I may have been a little ambitious. Let me use a food analogy, being an on-call worker is feast or famine and I just scheduled myself a month-long buffet.

You see, I said yes to everyone who asked me to work and that means I may not have a day off until Feb. 5th. The month is filled straight up. Today was my first day back since Christmas, my back hurts and I pulled a muscle sneezing a minute ago.

This doesn’t bode well.

Holiday Wrap-Up Part 2: Washington D.C.

After returning from the Land of Big Cars (Florida), we left a day later to Washington D.C. It was all business for my wife and all pleasure for myself.

Day 1

The first full day started slow, with a late begining. First thing, catch the subway to get to the International Spy Museum. I love Metrorail’s stations with their cast-concrete retro-futurism.

Compared to NYC or London some might think them charmless but I love the flowing lines of the walkways and the modular caverns that the trains roll into.

Get to the museum to find that day’s tickets were sold out. Bought one for the next day and got directions to Chinatown for much needed cheap eats. Wandered around and followed a pack of students into one of the numerous chinese restaurants. The food was fine and not too expensive. Took metrorail back towards the hotel, exited one station early and walked the rest up Connecticut.

Day 2

Trips to London, Minneapolis and Dublin had all resulted in finding little treasures, be it The Sir John Soane’s Museum, The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices which is now located at The Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Grand Masonic Lodge in Dublin. I worried that D.C. wouldn’t have something like those other cities, but a visit to this website got me pointed in the right direction.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is dedicated to reminding people that our founding father wore an apron. I was worried that I wouldn’t know where to go once I got off the train, but at the station it was pretty clear what direction to go.

While large from the outside, the building has even more rooms inside then I expected. The grand hall has a huge bronze George greeting all, with murals on each side of him. Further wandering around finds exhibits about George Washington, the building of the memorial, the Shriners, etc.

One of the highlights, the Animatronic George Washington. He stands, he gestures, he talks. But he doesn’t seem to look like G.W.

I wish I had stayed for the guided tour, but my timed-ticket for the Spy Museum had me leave before I could join the tour. Had the spy museum been less packed I could have judged it on its merits, but the crush of people made it all but impossible to enjoy. Their website warned of fast ticket sales and the post-christmas crowds filled the place. The museum has no grand hall, mainly a collection of collected rooms with no flow or reason. The architecture is in the style of “Alias” mostly modern materials and flashy lighting. There were loads of cool spy artifacts, but the crowd killed my desire to linger.

I think all future travel have to include a bit of Masonic tourism. They do their places up right.

Day 3

Return flight to Atlanta. Seen in Dulles International Airport

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More Washington D.C. Pictures – Flickr

George Washington Masonic National Memorial – Google Map

Good food:

Petits Plats – French, slightly pricey, great chocolate mousse.

Furin’s of Georgetown – fresh made soups, salads. Super tastey, good price.