Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Turkish Woman Who Lived in Fishtown

I'm trying ...... trying to appreciate the Museum of Northwest Art (MONA) in LaConner, but I fear the judgment of small minds in small towns. The way the small mind works is this -- since I wrote a critical comment about the Fishtown Art Show, currently at MONA, I am henceforth and forever branded as an enemy of the museum. That is far from the case, but it is the kind of talk that goes around a small town.

In fact, I am on the best of terms with Kathleen Moles, the curator of the show, and with many of the artists whose works appear in the show.

I had a long conversation over dinner with a museum staffer, and she warmly understands me as a supporter of the arts, of museums in general, and of our NW museum in particular.

In that conversation we compared MONA to internationally recognized places such as the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the de Menil Museum in Houston, those being two of my favorites.

I want MONA to be that good, which is a very demanding standard. Should we settle for less? No, we should not settle for less. Making allowances for the size and scope of our regional effort, we should be as good as the best.

Having cleared that up, I viewed the Fishtown art show again today. It made inexpressibly sad, and this is entirely a projection of my own miserable state of mind. I saw failure and lost chances where others see a soft beauty..... I viewed Ralph Aeschlimann's paintings but I wanted -- needed -- to see see his beautiful, hand-built flying kites. I remembered long ago seeing my two small children chase Ralph and his kites across a field of grass. We were prescient kite runners then, and it all seems lost now.

Gull? Where is Gull, the Turkish woman? Why is she not included in the Fishtown Art Show? She was extravagant beyond measure. She was the original terrorist from the Middle East. Even barefooted, she wore spiked heels. And she lived on the river, someone's wife, not a poet or artist, but making meals, tending the fire, minding the children. And she left no trace of art? Are you kidding? She was an awesome anti-Zen Buddhist, a non-Sufi miracle of contempt for boring people.

Gull was never boring. She was alive and that scared the hell out of people.

4 comments:

daskalos said...

Προς το Blog σας

Ένα blog γεννήθηκε με σκοπό να δώσει βήμα σε όλους τους Έλληνες ..Ένα Blog όπου μπορεί ο καθένας μας να γράφει ότι τον απασχολεί επώνυμα η ανώνυμα…ένα blog που δίνει την ευκαιρία σε όλους τους Έλληνες να πούνε όλα αυτά που μέχρι τώρα διστάζανε να πούνε .. Αν θέλεις και εσύ να κάνεις κάτι για όλη αυτή την απάτη που βλέπεις γύρο σου ..έλα μαζί μας …..Το Blog σου δίνει την δυνατότητα να ακουστή η γνώμη σου σε ένα ευρύ κοινό χωρίς πολιτικούς ,κομματικούς ,εθνικούς, θρησκευτικούς, η άλλους περιορισμούς .
Κάνε τώρα την αρχή έλα μαζί μας…………
Οι απόψεις που θα γράφεις εδώ δεν λογοκρίνονται σε καμιά περίπτωση και δημοσιεύονται ακέραιες

Ζητάμε και την δική σας στήριξη καθώς το Blog προωθεί τις απόψεις των Blogger και των πολιτών, και όχι δικές μας…..

www.ksipnistere.blogspot.com

www.ksipnistere.gr

Βάλτε και εμάς στη λίστα με τα ιστολόγια σας... ότι θέλετε μπορείτε να το στείλετε στο e-mail μας και από κάτω το link σας και δημοσιεύετε ακέραιο.



Θέλουμε επίσης να σας ενημερώσουμε το ksipnistere βρίσκετε ανάμεσα στα 10 μεγαλύτερα blog της χώρας

Unknown said...

Right on, Fred! I can send you a copy of the Pic on the Skagit Valley Herald of me and kites if you like. Gull is a tornado that moved to Bellingham I'm told.

Ralph Aeschliman
Moscow, Idaho

dhelm said...

Fred, I have actually seen Gule from a distance in Bellingham over the past couple of years. Don't know what she's doing as I didn't have an opportunity to talk with her.

dhelm said...

I have seen Gule in Bellingham a few times over the past several years. Never had a chance to talk with her though. It was usually from a distance.