2024 Miscellany #14

Carl Jara's annual sand sculpture at Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds for Oktoberfest.

shark bike rack Berea, O.

across from a Cleveland scrapyard

Misny in costume again

Clement Vallandigham was the leader of the Copperheads, Peace Democrats, against Lincoln and the Union. He gave a speech in Mount Vernon in 1863. He was a southern sympathiser, and was pro-slavery. He was arrested by the army, sent south, and escaped to Canada. He planned against the Union. He wanted Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to form confederacy.

After the war, he returned to practice law. He shot himself, in court, to demonstrate his client did not pull a gun, and kill a man in a saloon. Vallandigham died the next day, after saying something about predestination. His father was a Presbyterian minister. He won the case, his client went free.

Saw these two signs in Mount Vernon. Supra on a man's lawn, and infra in his window. He said, he had a pretty good response from people. Knox County is heavily Republican.

art at Kenyon College

             

Paul Manship. Indian Hunter and Pronghorn Antelope. Gambier O. 1917, poured 2001.

Another one is outside Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This work has two figures separated in space, and in action. The moment in time depicted is after the bowman shoots his arrow into the flesh of his prey.

                The arrow is visible in its strike.

Carl Emil Milles. Five Angel Musicians. Gambier O. 2003.

This was also cast and poured many years after the artist's death. Since the figures are nekkid, some people were piqued. Currently, Kenyon College is commemorating their 200th year since founding. Kenyon was the first private college in Ohio. It was meant to educate the Episcopal clergy. There is not a seminary there now. For some time it was the seat of the Ohio Episcopal Protestant diocese. There is a museum for contemporary art on campus, and several outdoor sculptures.

Charles J. Connick made stained glass windows for the grand dining hall on Kenyon's campus in 1928. He also produced a multi-scened doubled lintel window in the church, and two multi-scened windows in the tower of Peirce Hall, which has the dining room.

Connick has many windows looking down on students eating. Some are triples, some more. Connick himself was well read, and wrote well himself. Each window has medallions of American and British writers, and their works. Some windows have quotations, some have additional figures away from the central point of interest. This one includes Melville's Moby, and Thoreau's Walden. Some students have wanted to read all the works portrayed.

Charles J. Connick. The Merchant of Venice. 1928.

 There are a few of Shakespeare's plays. The Merchant of Venice has the Scales of Justice above it.

William Blake's Tiger is one of the popular representations.

Thomas Hardy with St. George

John Keats' The Eve of St. Agnes has a bloodhound.

return to Kenyon

Now, Aaron was the elder brother of Moses. Holy Spirit has up front a window of Moses [click]. At the entrance there is one of Aaron, it is not great glass. One is visible in a straight, long line from the other. Aaron was Moses' elder brother. Here he is dressed as a priest, a Levite, a kohen. The breastplate has a stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Immediately i was fascinated about two things: the face, and the oversize bare feet.

When i saw Aaron's eyes and moustaches, it reminded me of this portrait of Vlad Dracula. Now about the feet:

And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. — Exodus iii. 5.

The priests in Old Testament times ministered in the Tabernacle, and in the Temple were barefoot.

along Hough Avenue Cleveland

There is pride and anger in being Black in America. Everyone deserves a sense of pride in being a person. Anger comes when one's humanity is denied, or attacked. In urban America it is on display.

In front of an art gallery is this portrait of a black pawn. Can the viewer represent this for a Black American? In a chess game pawns are least valued, and least cried over. Bob Dylan wrote the song, "Only A Pawn In Their Game", about the assassination of Medgar Evers.

Behind the pawn, there is a wide mural. This is part of it, a stylized version of a faro. Egypt is in Africa, but it is not Black Africa.

Cleveland had race riots in 1966. When Los Angeles had riots in 1992, some people called it an uprising. Here in a revision of history the word uprising is used. This sign was unveiled a few days ago [5 September].

This sign is an acknowledgement after 58 years of an event that shaped the future of Cleveland. If it had not come then, over a particular event; then it would have came after another particular event. The tension had been building for a long time, and not just in Cleveland. It was nation wide. Civic boosters do not like to bring such events to mind. For those living around Cleveland at the time, they fully knew of the riots. There was a divide on how people felt, largely on the basis of one's race: vandalism or an explosion of frustration that still lingers. It has been almost fully the passing of two generations. Only now it is possible to speak cooly about it?

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old. He was shot dead by vigilante George Zimmerman on 26 February 2012. The system had no interest in the case, until it became public. The next year Zimmerman was acquitted. In between the matter was a cause célèbre between the races. Black males are killed at a unusually high rate, often by police. White people with conservative [euphemism] views reflexively support the killer. In this case, Zimmerman was not a law officer. Much of the black citizenry feel attacked by the system.

After the verdict, President Obama said, "...You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son.  Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.  And when you think about why, in the African American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away. ..."

Naturally, Obama was attacked for his comments. Republicans, racists, white people with perpetual grievances were on automatic pilot. Obama was subject to racism as supposedly the most powerful man in the world. The boy carrying canned ice tea, and a bag of candy resisted Zimmerman. Zimmerman shot him dead. Here on Hough, Martin is showed with his last purchase.

2024 Miscellany #13

Brendan Murphy. The sitting spaceman. 2024. Beachwood Ohio.

 "Hey Mr. Spaceman, won't you please take me along for a ride"

There are five sculptures on a medical center campus of a hospital system. Eleven more are expected. This one is carbon fiber with a topping of shiny chrome. It is to be remembered that the order of cosmonauts, and astronauts was: dog, chimp, man. The artist has made several spaceman sculptures, and the marker scribbles are his.

For centuries Merino sheep were a Spanish monopoly. Their wool is very fine and soft, and much prised. Currently on Simon Perkins farm in Akron there are seven pregnant ewes. Now on a completely different matter. When you have more than one ewe, you have ewes. There is no place for ya'll.

An arbor on Simon Perkins farm, Akron.

   carousel lion at Akron Zoo

Feeding the birds.

Sometimes, creatures are not interested.

Nigerian dwarf goat, American child

insurance salesman 

 She likes Frank Sinatra, and named them Jupiter, and Mars. Jupiter is a female.

Labor Day