The High

It was time for me to do a little urban exploring. Considering that my current workday does not begin until later in the afternoon, my schedule lends itself to these kinds of day trips.

I started out on the MARTA train. Most people hate riding MARTA, and while its inadequacies as a mass transit system bother me as well, I cannot deny that I always find a certain level of enjoyment while warming my cheeks on its plastic seats. I had a camera, an iPod, my new headphones (which are simply exquisite) and a plan to get to the High Museum for a day of culture, all before work.

If the French can muster the decency to remove "their" national treasures from the Louvre and allow us the ability to give audience to these ancient artifacts in person, it is the least we can do to take advantage of the opportunity. Both the "Eye of Josephine" and "Ancient World" exhibitions were quite interesting. The sheer age of some of these artifacts was simply awe inspiring. Some even went so far back as to be relics of ancient Sumerian culture.

here is a picture of wooden sculpture of the crucifixion that caught my eye. (This piece was not associated with the Louvre exhibit)

I was a little worried about shooting pictures of the artwork, and tried to keep it to a minimum. I’m not so sure that it is the sort of thing that is necessarily encouraged in the museum world. Also, I wonder if it defeats the purpose of photography as an art if one is photographing someone else’s artwork.

Finally I found the photography exhibit, nestled in the basement next to the Yoruba art exhibit.

These were my two favorite exhibits in the museum. I read a quote about the Yoruba art that I found quite intriguing. It was that the Yoruba made all of their art to also be functional, for example, if one were to make a chair as art, it would have more value if it was in fact functional, not unlike the way a strong character increases the physical appeal of an individual.

The photographic exhibit, "Street Life: American Photographs from the 1960's and 1970's" was the most interesting exhibit I saw. This fascinating exhibit explores the worlds of biker gangs, women in the streets, and carnival strippers. Here is an example of one of the photos that I really liked.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that I live in a major city, with art and culture and mass transit. It can be so easy to stay between home and work, or the same old haunts we have all spent so much time in. it is nice to go out and do something different.