Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Land of the Lost, Now Available On DVD


We went to the heart of Tucson today, in and amongst its towering skyscrapers. (That would be the four or five buildings that are greater than five stories.) One of the more colorful office buildings can be found on my better half's blog. The building in the picture above... well... I have no idea what it is. Other than being extremely cool. Absolutely fantastic prehistoric mural wrapped around the entire building. There were a lot of murals on buildings in the area, and some of the buildings are just plain colorful. Nothing quite like seeing an adobe building painted royal blue!

We also went to an art museum today on the Arizona University campus. Why? Because it was free. Good thing, too. See... I'm an art major. I enjoy making pictures of things that look like things. I will never understand cubism, and I will never understand the Rothkos and Jackson Pollacks of the world. Yeah, I know. I'm just jealous that I didn't think to call a dropcloth "art" first. This is not to say that the museum had such pieces. They had a faculty showing, and some of the faculty work was seemingly inspired by those giants of the art world. I should apply for a grant for this kind of thing. You too can drizzle paint onto canvas, or spritz it through a plastic spray gun, or sneeze it out on tile and be called "deep". (Instead of "someone who wastes paint".)

There was an extensive collection of religious art dating back to the 1500s. That was impressive. About a dozen very large paintings on wood, depicting Christ's life. I couldn't help but notice how much Christ's life is mirrored by reality game shows. I mean, think about it. His first test was to turn water into wine. Then he got to make the blind see. Then heal the lepers. Survive his temptations. Survive the Four Tops. (OK, I made that one up.) Convince people he's made out of bread and wine. Drag a big piece of wood in the hot sun, put on a spiky hat, and catch a spear without using his hands. What's he win?

Depends on how you define "win". I think he would've been happier with the home game.

After the museum, we saw an interesting human. He weighed roughly as much as my right arm, was about a foot taller than me, had some of his hair dyed red, was wearing canvas Keds laceless sneaker-things with a nifty blue checkered pattern, and he had a purse. Not a backpack, not a rucksack, a purse. Ah, art college. I didn't miss you.

Don't get me wrong. He can have the purse. He could wear his favorite ballerina costume and a tiara or a clown costume and bagpipes for all I care. If it makes him happy, go right ahead. The purse in question, however, did not match the shoes. That's a no-no.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm having a controlling kind of day. If I could, I'd make you go back and find out what the building in the photo is, because, in the vernacular, not supplying that information? Well, that just ain't right.

In the one and only art history class I took, I remember studying one painting that was just a big ol' field of orange. It kind of pissed me off.

Wontar said...

Sorry Sam. I've been trying to find out what that building is, but to no avail. The next time we're in that part of town, I promise to be more diligent and find out just what the heck it is.