tom moody

How many words have been written in a short amount of time about the Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrest? News stories, op ed pieces, internet comments: A staggering volume of words. That's because the story is a Rorschach meme. Consider all the ingredients here. A conflict with only the word of the two parties to tell us what happened. A perfect storm of social tensions: cop vs citizen in a post 9/11 police state context, elite university employee vs "townie," black vs white, a racist DC press still absorbing the fact of a non-white US president (and both commenting on the incident). Everyone, but everyone has an opinion on this one. Which of the above factors was the most important? What must have actually happened? Type away. Your issue is in there somewhere.

My only comment (made on twitter) concerned the Huffington Post's publishing of Gates' mug shot after the charges were dropped. Classy move, Arianna. The "blogger" press can be as bad as the National Enquirer: worse because people think it's not fiction.

Update: Since the above was written this story has turned into "cable catnip." A crazy local story to distract us from the health care we aren't getting, etc. Hats off to the US media, which now includes syndicated bloggers. You've done it again.

Update 2: Reason's headline "Put the race talk aside: the issue here is abuse of police power, and misplaced deference to authority" typifies the pedantic rhetoric surrounding this incident. Almost everyone who writes on this topic offers the definitive word on what it "means." "A phantom Negro" says: "So before we heed the call of racism, let’s be mindful of the tower from which that call came. This has something to do with race. But it has a lot more to do with messing with Skip Gates." David Brooks says: "Maybe this 'situation' had something to do with Harvard University and social class... But even if class mattered, it did so mostly because of how, in this situation, it was bound up with race." Ishmael Reed ventures: "If Gates ceases his role as just another tough lover and an 'intellectual entrepreneur,' and takes a role in ending racial traffic and retail profiling, and police home invasions...we can say, "Welcome home, Skip; welcome home.'" Everybody has their take. No one was there.

...at Marianne Boesky, a group show curated by Todd Levin. This is just one corner of the largish exhibit (over 70 works). Reminiscent of the "Unmonumental" and "Younger Than Jesus" New Mu house style but more considered and artful placement of works. Most of the artists were transgressive young craft and schlock appropriating Turks of yesteryear (Cady Noland, Leonardo Drew, Joseph Cornell (whoa)) who are now many years older than Jesus (or have passed on). The show really does show the silliness of shows based on age. Anyone can work with these kinds of ideas. Really.

Finally got up on the High Line last evening. These shots, with and without a flash, were at twilight. The High Line is an old elevated rail line that runs from the meat packing district (MePa) north about eight blocks through West Chelsea. The indigenous grasses that used to grow between the railroad tracks have been mimicked by freshly planted indigenous grasses growing among the curved Modernist pseudo rails you see in the photo. You can't tell from these pics but it was party central up there last night: you could barely walk for all the bored West Siders milling around.

Hanging on the wall of the museum: a crudely drawn asterisk covering almost the entirety of a small piece of wood.
The curator stood next to it expectantly, eyes gleaming. "Well?" she said.
"You mean, what is the reference?" asked the museum visitor. "A reproduction of the first star drawn by the young Jackson Pollock, in kindergarten? The pictographic anus drawn by Kurt Vonnegut in Breakfast of Champions to commemorate his turning fifty?"
The curator got that look she got when "revealing" a piece of contemporary art to a plebe, trying not to appear condescending that the visitor didn't "get" what only she could have possibly known. This is what she lived for.
"No, none of those, but good guesses," she said. "In fact, it's a reproduction of the edit lines which cancelled page II-81 in the original manuscript of 'Lamia' by John Keats. The media are pine and India ink."
"Oh, my God. Well, it's very important that I be able to visualize that, it puts me more in touch with the barbaric nature of censorship. Thanks."
Completely missing the visitor's irony, the curator said, "I'm so glad you like it, I think it's an important piece. Don't you want to know what was canceled on that page of Keats' text?"
"Not really, no," said the visitor.

(jpeg of actual pretentious artwork seen on vvork)