Lewes, Delaware

St. Peter's Episcopal Church

We love that we live close to Rehobeth Beach.  It is gay friendly and anyplace where the gay community feels safe and accepted makes me feel safe. That sounds selfish but at our core I think we always do an unconscious, if not conscious, check within to see how we are doing.  I know I do well when I feel safe in a community.  I also love creative and eccentric people and I think an open mind, and diverse communities of race, cultures, and lifestyles fosters that.  

So, yeah, I know the picture above is in Lewes, Delaware, and not Rehobeth.  And it's of a church, and a church is a place often of intolerance, a place that often oppresses people who don't toe their lines.  Churches have been responsible for fostering hate and not love, hate that has oppressed and even killed women and gays and people of color.  And I'm not "hating on" just christianity.  Many religions foster a we-they ethos that often gets out of hand even if originally well-intentioned.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions.  I think it would surprise religious people to have to consider that their behaviors and those expressed due to their specific religion condemns them and not those who don't adhere.  If all the world's murders and deaths throughout the history of humanity that are either blatant killings or deaths caused by others' neglect or greed, in other words, all the deaths caused by true immorality, were added up, most would be placed in the column under religious beliefs. And personally, I think religions should examine their history (and current culture) to look at that and see if they want to really change that going forward.  That would take a lot of courage. 

So one thing I love about blogging and using my pictures is it motivates me to look things up and then I learn more and I also remember longer.  I took the picture of St. Peter's because it was just incredibly beautiful against the early spring evening sky.  A lady was walking her dog just out of the picture, walking right to left and paused for me to take the picture before she walked into it.  I wouldn't have minded her being in the picture.  She was kind.  We spoke.  That added to my sense of safety and contentment.  Kindness counts.  

So I know Lewes is not Rehobeth, and I haven't lived in the area and learned the culture and politics in detail yet. Yet. But they are right next to each other.  Lewes has an old village feel.  A perfect complement to the relatively new and beachy feel of Rehobeth.  I like choices.  I like variety.  I like charm.  I like beauty in many forms.  

St. Peter's was built in Lewes, aka, "The first town in the first state" in 1808 though it existed in other forms and local places since the late 1600's.  It apparently houses a silver communion service still used occasionally, made by a Philly silversmith and considered to be high enough quality that it's been exhibited at the Met.  Woo hoo.  I'm not really into silver per se but I respect quality workmanship and am interested in history.  

And as a sad-sack sorry-assed romantic, I stood to look at St. Peter's in that early spring evening and feel the decades of humanity that passed in and out of and past that church, people of different races, different levels of freedom, people of definitive genders and intersexed, people who oppress and/or prey upon others' sexuality.  Kind people. Hateful people. People passing between kindness and hatefulness. Young and old. Wealthy and poor.  And as I think of all the harm that's been done and can still be done in our country, I still feel some contentment because Lewes is the connecting town to Rehobeth and I feel safe. Safe enough.

 

Art and a Parade

Feeling the need for an art vaccination, we went to the Hirshhorn in Washington, DC.  It was a beautiful day and the first time we'd gone into DC to wander around since the January 6, 2020 attempt to overthrow our government.  I have lots of fears about that and am wary about our future as a democracy but as Nietzche said, "The truth is ugly: we have art so as not to perish from the truth." I need the innoculation of art as well as nature's beauty now and then to keep me sane.  

We saw Laurie Anderson's exhibit and became enamored.  One of the things she said that I like is, "As an artist, I'd chose the thing that's beautiful more than the one that's true." But yet, she didn't hide from or ignore truth.  She examined truth.  And as I think about her words and what they mean to me, I feel that yearning and reaching for beauty can make a new path for us, a new reality, and that becomes a new truth.

Laurie Anderson is my new hero. We loved her show and have since been googling her and delving deeper. I like what she said, below, about being scared and getting on with reaching for beauty.  I think it's appropriate for the times we are living in:  "The world may end. You're right.  But that's not a reason to be scared.  None of us know what will happen. Don't spend time worrying about it. Make the most beautiful thing you can.  Try to do that everyday.  That's it.  You know? What are you looking for, posterity? We don't know if there is any posterity." 

I love this. That Laurie Anderson has depicted herself and John Cage sitting and both facing the window to listen to the traffic. The creativity of that thought.  The basic serenity of the action.  Depicting it as art. It makes me smile and know so much is possible by rearranging how we think and feel.

Laurie is a multi-media artist.  She does performance art with music, spoken word, painting, graffiti, sculptures...

The flags moved.  It was beautiful.  I took a video but can't get it to upload. The choreographed movement of the flags was gentle but powerful.

I suppose if I had to pick the most fascinating work of Laurie's that I saw, it would be the graffiti type art, some of which I've tried to capture below.

The sculpture of the parrot, above, was amazing.  The beak moved and, of course, it talked.  I can't remember what it said now.  But I'm sure it was profound.  

I love the Lotus Vice-Potus. Only in America. 

Below are some photos of some of Laurie's huge, powerful paintings. 

This one, below, is notable in many ways and for it's power.  We just, and finally, passed a lynching law in this country.  

Below, I took a picture of a picture of Laurie doing a show, Stories From the Nerve Bible, to remind me to look it up.  I did.  I read the transcript.  It's worth a look-see.  I sent it to Dave and he read it.  We read pieces of it to each other.  Enlightening.  Amusing.  

More Paintings.  

After Laurie's exhibit, we meandered along to Marcel Duchamps but I didn't take pictures of his art.  His art didn't move me enough to take pictures, I realize now, but I did take lots of screen shots of quotes of his that were projected in turn on a large section of wall.  Here they are:

"If genius succeeds too quickly, It is finished."

"I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste."

"I have a very great respect for humor.  It's a protection that allows one to pass through all the mirrors."

My favorite is, "It's art if I say so."

Another is, "I don't believe in art.  I believe in the artist."

"Since the tubes of paint by the artist are manufactured and readymade products, we must conclude that all the paintings in the world are 'readymade aided.' "  Interesting.  I love the humbling humor.  

Frankly, I just love how artists examine everything upside down, sideways and inside out. 

"While the artist may shout from all the rooftops that he is a genius, he will have to wait for the verdict of the spectator."  Alas, but art is so personal. Tastes vary.  People love black velvet paintings. Remember?  We are all in a different place and different times in the space of time and in our own growth.

"Art may be bad, good, or indifferent, but, whatever adjective is used, we must call it art."  I'm all over that.  That makes me an artist.  And along those lines, back to Laurie Anderson, one of her quotes I like is, "I never really had a hobby, unless you count art, which the IRS once told me I had to declare as a hobby since I hadn't made money with it."

I captured Dave in front of screens overlooking the courtyard as we moved around in the Hirshhorn.

We went to see to Pickett's Charge by Mark Bradford, which I loved.  I was confused, at first, when I saw a sign saying Pickett's Charge was one of the exhibits.  WTF, I thought.  But when I saw it, I got it. And was amazed by it.  In a good way.  Mark Bradford examines social issues.  He says, "Politically and socially, we are at the edge of another precipice.  I'm standing in the middle of a question about where we are as a nation."  

Pickett's Charge is his biggest work. It's based on the French artist, Paul Philippoteaux's cyclorama in Gettysburg.  Mark used colored paper and reproductions of the original and cut, tore and scraped, built and rearranged layers to allow us to examine, to think, about the original and the event which is considered a turning point in the not so civil war. Each of his eight paintings are more than 45 feet long and they are mounted around the inner circle on the the third level of the Hirshhorn. 

After leaving the Hirshhorn, we walked around the mall a bit. It was a beautiful day.  Deceivingly peaceful.  And I guess all peace is deceptive because someone somewhere is always plotting to disrupt it, to sabotage it, to blaspheme. Why? Greed?  Power?  

We laughed about the Hogwart's effect of the Smithsonian Institution Building especially with the contrails leading to or away from it.  

And before we move on to the Emancipation Parade, I want to show a little more art.  This one, I thought, was a free library but instead, free art.  The note clipped inside says, "War is Still not the answer."  And below it looks like a child's drawing of the sun in the sky with a rainbow - upside down.  Nice. And added to this artwork you can see my reflection, my hand's holding the camera but it looks like I'm holding the space between the words and the upside down rainbow and sunshine. Once again.  Powerful. A good day of art. 

Then we waited for the Emancipation Parade which started at 2.  

There were a couple marching bands, several trucks carrying musicians playing and singing, dancers performing with and without the bands, folks carrying banners and flags, lots of good, loving, yearning for freedom, energy.

Below, I captured the young base drummer in one of the bands.  He looks taller in the picture, and I love that he's looking my way though I don't know if he sees me taking his picture or is looking at one of the people layered between us.  He appeared to be less than 10 years old.  I love it.  

It was a good day.