Worcester Art Museum: Cultural Diamond in the Rough

Worcester, Massachusetts, always seemed to me to be the last place I would want to look to satisfy my cultural palette. But, last weekend, I was surprised to discover that one of Worcester's few cultural lures, the Worcester Art Museum, is actually a fine, respectable establishment of the arts, just as deserving of at least one visit as any other such venue. In a city marred by crime, traffic, and a burgeoning vagrancy problem, I was pleased to find the diamond in the rough that held and engaged me for hours last weekend. When entering the Museum, by the main entrance, I found myself initially skeptical. For so cheap an admission (only eight dollars), I expected much less than I ended up getting. The range of exhibitions currently available at the Museum is truly astounding. From Jodie Manasevit’s contemporary exhibition to the “Hope & Healing” collection of plague-era Italian paintings to Jim Hodges’ eternally inspiring masterwork “Don’t be afraid,” there is something to be found for all range of artistic tastes. The first work I encountered in the museum was not a painting, but a mural- the largest in North America. Entitled simply “The Hunt,” it depicts an ancient Roman hunting expedition to Africa, probably a once-in-a-lifetime event for the hunters. The mural has been dated to not long after the turn of the first millennium. More impressive than its age, or the fact that it has been preserved so beautifully in its original form, is the fact that such capable craftsmanship existed at all so distantly in the past. This work, located on the ground floor, the lowest point in the museum, was tastefully placed to reflect the fact that this sort of work is the origin of all of our art today. Directly above The Hunt, draped along 67 feet of wall space, is Jim Hodge’s masterpiece, the mural “Don’t be afraid.” Scrawled across the sky-blue face of the medium are the words “Don’t be afraid,” as written in the native languages and styles of 100 different United Nations member states, including Japanese, Arabic, and Cyrillic. The message of the piece is one of inspired unity- the representation of a congruent whole represented through the diversity of smaller parts contributing to a greater, more powerful whole. The collective effort required to create the piece is also symbolic of the power of communal unity- the content of the mural come from 100, anonymous United Nations represented, and the actual construction of the mural took the work of about another hundred high school students, guided by Hodge. Hodge’s use of the “Don’t be afraid” phrase is also of significance on the artist’s personal level. Hodge has had the phrase hanging in his studio since long before this piece was commissioned by WAM, and he used the phrase on bumper stickers sold at last year’s Whitney Biennial. All in all, “Don’t be afraid” was an early, uplifting surprise for me, whose tasteful placing above the center of the museum seemed meant to represent the background emotions of unity and harmony that underlie our art and the purpose of our art. The “Hope & Healing” exhibition, which will be available at the Museum through September 25th of this year, was a truly emotional experience. The paintings are arranged by the exhibitioners such that the viewer follows the plague over its chronological course, from its tragedy to its triumphant conclusion. Paintings by all range of the ancient schools of Italian painting represent the full span of emotion felt by the suffering masses of Europe. There is despair, exemplified in Marcantonio Raimondi’s The Plague (after Raphael’s original) and the imagery archetypes of the infant trying to suckle its dead mother, and the fallen classical ruins all around, symbolizing both the apparent end of civilization and the loss of the integrity of societal institutions in the face of insurmountable tragedy. Flemish painter Michael Sweerts’ 1650s painting Plague in an Ancient City depicts a foreground of suffering plague victims against a background of the frantic healthy to show the fact that, at the height of the plague, those who hadn’t yet been affected were doing little more than waiting for the plague to reach them, inevitably. This theme is repeated in Giovanni Martinelli’s Memento Mori (“Remember, You Shall Die“), which shows a common dining scene of upper-class gentlemen and women suddenly interrupted by the intrusion of a skeleton holding an hourglass. This was meant to show that, unlike many of the pestilences that cling to the ghettos, the Black Death struck rich and poor alike, without discrimination, and without warning. Finally, the exhibition climaxes with the portrayal of Giovanni Andrea Sirani’s Michael the Archangel Overcoming Satan, surrounded by other works of religious art, relating the divine intervention many felt was responsible for the final abolition of the plague. Saints Rosalie, Roch, Sebastian, and others are represented as the divinely-inspired traveling healers who risked their lives to try to bring hope and healing to plague victims across Europe. But Sirani’s work reflects the larger theme of the plague’s demise, that the pestilence was an artifice of Satan’s, and its defeat was an inspired act of God, through his servants. Jodie Manasevit’s exhibition was what next I encountered in the Museum. Now I have never been a devoted follower of much contemporary art, yet the title of Manasevit’s exhibition, “Just Painting,” struck a chord with me. The use of seemingly random mosaics of painted color and unusual sculptures consisting of various arrangements of oil-painted paving stones gave me an important glimpse into the meaning behind this type of modern art: perhaps there is no effable meaning, only the impulse to “just paint,” and what that means to the artist is a total mystery to us until we, too, find it in ourselves to go and just paint, and see what “just painting” means to us. The Printmaking exhibition, which ends at the conclusion of July 2005, explores the origins of water-and-oil printmaking. It features artwork from the 19th-century European masters such as Fransisco Goya and Eugene Delacroix up through the lithographs of modern masters like Jasper Johns and Robert Raushenberg. The quiet, mostly colorless elegance of these works did not go unappreciated. Being able to portray such moving, lasting scenes like The Bulls of Bordeaux by Fransisco Goya or the quieter The Cat in Summer and The Cat in Winter, by Theophile Alexandra, through the use of only light and dark lines is an important, expressionistic tool from the history of our human arts that is quickly disappearing, but that cannot be allowed to be forgotten. Other exhibitions at the Worcester Art Museum, such as the American Art display that contains original metalwork by Paul Revere and continues up through the radio age, served as a reminder of where art has gone since its beginnings in the Hunt. The French paintings section, which bears all range of pieces, from Romanticism through Modernism and beyond, bridges the developmental gaps between the emotional plague years of Raimondi to the more-abstract-that-Abstraction, contemporary works of Jodie Manasevit with original works by Gorky, Gaughin, excerpts from Surrealism and Cubism, and pertinent works of everything in between. All in all, I was much more satisfied than I’d anticipated and in fact drawn to return multiple times by the Worcester Art Museum, and I would recommend it as a must-do experience for any serious art aficionado living in the New England area. It might not be the Louvre, but the Museum has such high-quality exhibited works and meaningful displays to make it well worth the trip and the price. The Worcester Museum of Art is open 11-5 on Wednesday through Sunday, 11-8 Thursday through Saturday, and is open from 10-5 on Saturdays, with free admission from 10-noon on Saturdays.

Christmas Light Photography Tips and Advice

We're out taking photographs of Christmas lights. There are so many beautiful displays, and we want to capture them on film. So as we prepare to take our pictures of Christmas lights, we back away so that we can capture the entire magnificent scene within our frame.

Correct. But also incorrect, if that's all we do. And this leads to our first Christmas photography tip for illustrating Christmas light displays.

(1) The best Christmas lights photography captures not only panoramic scenes, but also close-ups of the highlights within the panorama. We want both. Let's say that on the sprawling front lawn of a suburban home, we see Santa on his sleigh in one location, and a Salvation Army bell-ringer in a second spot, and a nativity scene someplace else. In addition to our distant Christmas photograph, we can also zero in on each of those three highlights.

(2) Opt for a high shutter speed. We want to illustrate the lights, not the light that they emit. A wide angle lens is for the panorama, and a macro lens is for the close-ups.

(3) Those Christmas light displays are so brilliant in the deep, dark, Silent Night. Maybe so, but our Christmas photography will be lousy at that point. Our photos will show the lights, but not the property in the background. Or, we'll see the property but we won't clearly see the lights, so to speak. Our best bets are at dusk or at dawn, and overcast usually is better than clear sky.

(4) If we're really dedicated and sticklers for perfection, we'll shoot our Christmas photography both at dusk and at dawn. Great photography of any sort is trial and error. Furthermore, if we show up maybe a half-hour before the optimal time, then we can plan our logistics and our camera angles, so that we're ready when the time is right. Extra time = excellence in our Christmas photography.

(5) Let's see here. We have the lights. We have the various props that go with the lights, such as the nativity scenes or Santa on his sleigh. We have the property in the background. Aren't we forgetting something? Oh yes, the sky. The sky! Look at examples of Christmas lights photography that impress you (or even thrill you) the most, and odds are that the sky will play a prominent role. Seek an angle at dusk that shows an afterglow in the evening sky. To include more sky, shoot from a low angle, upward toward the Christmas lighting display and toward the sky.

(6) People. Where are the people? Just because your subject is Christmas lights photography, that doesn't mean the scene must be devoid of people. Have some children pose in the scene, or better yet, just tell them to go ahead and frolic. This can add a unique element to your Christmas lights photography.

SOURCES

http://www.intofotos.com/photography/2007/11/10/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights/

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/tips/christmas-lights.shtml

Enjoy an Art Museum, Docent Tour, and Lunch in a Day Trip

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It is an excuse for a tasty lunch. We justify the true goal of the day, trying a new (to us) restaurant, with the appearance of culture. Living in the suburbs of Dallas, it is not a huge ordeal to trek into the city and enjoy the resources available to us. Even better, we will share a simple stress free outing with you.

Sleep in on a Saturday morning, since the Dallas Museum of Art does not open until eleven. Knowing a decent lunch awaits, we curtail our breakfast bounty and read the paper curled around a bowl of cereal. It is a gorgeous clear, sunny day with a hint of fall in the air. Dressed in sturdy walking shoes and casual wear, we drive the twenty miles into the city. Downtown Dallas on a Saturday morning is not teeming with life. The Arts District off of Pearl Street is just waking up and we easily find a meter to plunk in a few quarters. It is silly to pay the full day parking lot rate, when we plan to browse and then bolt for lunch.

There are some families and students waiting for the doors to open and we join the group to pay the ten dollars admission fee. We find our name on the docent tour list and end up with a private tour. Now, the docent tour was a bit of a bonus. My friend had won a silent auction bid a year ago and the tour was expiring. Even with a month's notice, friends and family were too busy to join in the festivities. Hence, it was the two of us. The docent tours can be arranged privately or there is a free public tour at two o'clock daily.

The tour is a pleasant surprise and gives us a new perspective of the museum. Rather than a seemingly random hodge-podge of art, there is a flow to the building and the docent guides us to a starting point upstairs. As we walk up the steps we enjoy the glass sculpture in the window of the art café. Flowers or sea creature creations, the bright glass glistens and allows the imagination to wander. An added bonus from the second floor is a view into the Nasher Sculpture Center next door. This is a year old cultural coup for the city of Dallas. Raymond Nasher donated his collection to the city, as well as actively participating in the building and presentation of his sculptures. The Nasher Center is a possible side trip depending on your art ambition for a day.

Our docent begins in the early American galleries and proceeds to stop and discuss various favorites and newly acquired pieces. As we proceed, we get a mixture of opinion, art history, and technique. With a different view and some lively discussion, we enjoy our stroll through the Dallas art galleries. We sit in front of Frederick Church's The Iceberg to rest our feet. The Dallas Museum of Art has a wide-ranging collection from American to African art, from classical to modern. A few hours here can enlighten young minds or invigorate the old. Constantly changing and rearranging the art on the walls, the museum wants you to return to see old favorites in new settings or to enjoy new works. It is easy to take the museum for granted, but an occasional visit is refreshing.

After two hours, we thank our guide and proceed to lunch. A short drive from the arts district, McKinney Avenue offers a variety of funky stores, trendy clubs, and fabulous eateries. We head to Cretia's on McKinney , a bistro and bakery. At one in the afternoon it has a decent crowd, and with the gorgeous weather, the patio seating is full of patrons. The menu does not disappoint with choice of lunch or weekend brunch items. We chose the chicken croissant sandwich and the hot roast beef sandwich. The lunches come with salad choices, fries, or fruits. Save room for dessert because the bakery section of this establishment is wonderful. We savored carrot cake with real cream cheese frosting and a red velvet cheesecake that was melt- in- the mouth delicious. Cretia's proves to be an enjoyable reward for our dose of art culture.

To burn off a few calories, we finish the afternoon with a stroll up McKinney to the Knox shopping area. Unique specialty shops and popular stores such as Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel line the streets. Shop, people watch, or plan the next outing complete with a restaurant choice on McKinney. This is one little section of Dallas and the Dallas Museum of Art is only one of many museums to see. Take the time to enjoy some art and lunch.

Dallas Museum of Art Arts District
Cretia's 4438 McKinney Ave Dallas Texas 75205

How Baby Talk Helps a Baby's Language Development

celtics baby clothes

Adults speak to babies in a distinctive way in all cultures, in baby talk.  In some ways, baby talk cannot be helped, some adults are not even aware they are speaking differently with a baby.  The face of a baby appears to inspire adults to speak in a slow, high pitched, singsong voice.   In a different context, in which a baby is not involved, it often sounds silly and out of place.  It is not the voice that adults generally use with other adults.  Why is that that we as adults distinctively use baby talk with babies?

One might be tempted to say that it is a cultural phenomenon.  After all, we see other people coo-chi coo-chi coo-ing to their babies, and we were also coo-chi-ed at when we were babies.  Perhaps using baby talk is a latent memory of our own early days as babies.

These are all possible theories, however, some clever social scientists have found reasons to suspect that we are, in essence, programmed to engage babies in baby talk because it helps them to develop their own language skills.

Babies are fascinating people.  They are born with the ability to soak up knowledge like a sponge.  They have an innate ability to watch, listen, and imitate the people around them.  Yet, if you watch the preference of a baby in the crib, they will pay more attention to the person speaking in baby talk than the person speaking in a normal voice.  Why is that?  Do they prefer the voice of the mother and the caretakers, the people who will speak the most baby talk?

Tests have shown that babies not only prefer baby talk, but they prefer any kind of baby talk to a regular voice.  Baby talk in French or any other foreign languages will be preferred over the normal voice of the mother.  We can then deduct that they like to listen to the certain pitch and tone that comes with baby talk of all languages.  Why the preference?  Babies are not susceptible to cultural phenomenon just yet, and baby talk is distinctive different than how adults interact with each other.

As it turns out, baby talk is not just the way we happen to speak to babies, but it is a mechanism of helping babies learn language.  Analysis of baby talk shows that the vowels are lengthened, and speech is slowed down, and more articulated.  It is an exaggeration of adult speech.  What appears to be an unconscious effort is actually a lesson plan in language.  Even mouth movements are exaggerated for the baby’s benefit.  One would press their lips more tightly together to say “baaaaaaaaaaall” to a baby.  In fact, when the full length baby talk is written down, it has the look of a grammar lesson, repetitive, but varied by description and structure: “Look at the ball, look at the bouncing ball, look at the pretty bouncing ball”.

As silly as it may sound, baby talk has all the important components of language.  It is an important part of a baby’s language development skills because it provides them what normal adult speech lacks, a methodical way of providing the basic building blocks of language.  So baby talk is not just an unconscious effect of babies on adults, but rather, the unconscious way people teach babies how to use language.