And Fifty Years From Now

I woke up today with two words in my head.

I blundered around the bedroom til I found a pen and paper, and I wrote them down. Then, finding that it'd been a bit too much, I fell back into bed and slept heroically for another two hours.

This happens quite a lot; I really should put a notepad and pencil on the bedside table.

Anyway, I found the piece of paper this evening and I did something with the two words. So, with apologies in advance for the bad pun, may I present... American Rothic?

I often wonder what the future of all our blogs will be.

We're all here, writing away, pouring our thoughts onto web pages. But will our efforts still exist in five years time? Ten? A hundred?

Books survive because they are physical things, the same as paintings and sculptures. But blogs have no physical form. Will they survive? I've no idea, but I like to think so. If I didn't, perhaps I'd slip off to bed a bit earlier tonight.

But if they do survive, what will be made of them? Will they be viewed in the context of the times in which they were written, or as work to be re-examined and re-evaluated in the times in which they are read?

When Grant Wood painted the iconic American Gothic in 1930, he entered his painting in a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago. The judges chuckled at something they viewed as a humorous piece, and dismissed it. But they were brow-beaten by an influential museum patron to give it a bronze medal and to buy it.

The house in the picture was (and still is) in Eldon, Iowa. When the locals saw the picture in the papers, they were outraged at their depiction as pinched, grim-faced, puritanical Bible-thumpers.

But elsewhere, art critics hailed it as a satire of life in rural small-town America.

Over time, it became associated with the literary trend towards criticism of rural life in small-town America.

During the Depression it became a salute to American pioneer spirit.

Later still, it became symbolic of a revolt against East Coast artistic thinking.

And these days, it's regarded as an icon of American art.

But it's interesting to note what Grant Wood had to say about it. He stated that it was a painting of a house that caught his eye, and the kind of people he imagined might live in it. The models were his sister and his dentist.

I wonder what the critics made of that?

It is possible that future generations might read my blog. Their critics and shrinks may pore over the entries seeking enlightenment on the subject of Mr. Indigo Roth. So, may I say this for the record:

I'm not trying to make an artistic statement, I'm simply enjoying myself.

I'll deny that when I get famous of course.

And by the way, the Art Institute of Chicago still has American Gothic on display.

Whatever the painting means, they like it.

Which is a critical evaluation I can get behind.

Indigo

This blog entry is protected by copyright © Indigo Roth, 2009/2012