The Athenaeum

The Ozymandias Parade

Ed Kienholz worked as an artist for many years here in the Los Angeles area.  Later in his career his base of operations alternated between Berlin & northern Idaho. Kienholz toiled at many things in L.A. besides making art while trying to sort himself out, leave his mark on the local art scene, & find whatever skills he might have to fit his efforts. There's a wonderful photo I've seen at retrospectives of Ed Kienholz standing in front of a dented work truck with racks welded into its bed & sides. Ed is grinning.  The truck bears a hand painted sign on its door, "Ed Kienholz- Expert." Kienholz advertised himself as an L.A. handyman who could fix anything.  Accounts contemporary to the truck photo bear that claim out, in spades. According to Walter Hopps, museum director, curator, & longtime Kienholz friend, during those lean years Ed often traded his artwork for goods & services, meticulously writing up a contract for each trade or work transaction. 

Exhibits around the world of Kienholz' art abound, & retrospectives of same are many, including those works Kienholz constructed with his wife, Nancy Redding Kienholz.  These pieces of "found, then constructed art" known as assemblages are fascinating to gaze at.  I find them almost viscerally provoking, even on 2nd, 3rd, or 10th viewing. 

Given various situations existing in the world now, I thought I'd post some photos of one of Kienholz' most striking & perhaps currently relevant pieces, The Ozymandias Parade.  Galleries & museums exhibiting this work are required to take a poll before putting it up for viewing, as to whether the blindfolds on the figures should read "YES" or "NO" & which figure will display which.  Results vary depending on the city, country, & year that it's exhibited.

Photos don't actually do this work justice; it always completely fills one large room of any exhibit I've been to.  My own humble interpretation of its extraordinary size is that Kienholz thought The Ozymandias Parade needed to be as large & overwhelming to the viewer as the situations it draws from.  The larger flags in this piece & the light bulbs around its sides are changed with each exhibit to reflect the national colors of the country in which it is being shown.

Thanks to Nancy Redding Kienholz & son Noah for the preservation & many showings through the years of Ed's (& Nancy's) work:

 -

Edward Kienholz' Great Big Assault-

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E1DF1E39F932A35750C0A960958260

- Maureen Lang

Morphing from 1 to 44

44 US Presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama morphed to the music of "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel

- Maureen Lang

1/16/09 APOD- A Wonder

I sent this as an email to brother Pat earlier with the above 

title as subject line. He asked me to 

post it here at TA-

A brief respite from the headline news today (although

the US Airways rescue story is very cool)...

Looks like Kyran Mish & son might have new heights to

aspire to in their night sky photography. Kidding aside, an 

amazing shot recorded from a small Earth telescope:

"Remarkable details are visible in this view of the
orbiting International Space Station (ISS), recorded
with a small telescope on planet Earth through a clear
twilight sky. Seen on December 27th at about 75
degrees elevation and some 350 kilometers above the
planet's surface, parts of the station, including the
Kibo and Columbus science modules, even seem to
reflect the Earth's lovely bluish colors..."
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090116.html

- Maureen Lang

Archaeology at Johnson's Island, Ohio

Johnson's Island at Sandusky, Ohio was the site of of a US prisoner of war camp for Confederate officers.  10,000 were held there during the Civil War.  There were many deaths from exposure to the elements on the shore of Lake Erie in the winter.  Maureen sent me the youtube address for these archaeological videos.  My alma mater, VMI, lost half its living alumni in that war.  Many of them died at Johnson's Island.  pl

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C2AACA19B8C1D74F

The statue is by Moses Ezekiel.

VMI Talk - "Life After Language Study"

Download lang_vmi_dvd.mp4

I gave this talk at my Alma Mater at the request of Alan Farrell.  The talk seeks to explain to cadets that the study of the humanities and foreign languages can lead to something interesting in life.  pl

PPT on the Crusader States and the Military Orders.

This set of my lecture slides concerns the history of the Crusader States of the Levant and the military religious orders.  It also exists on SST but I posted it here as well to consolidate such materials in one place.  pl

Download The Crusader States2

"Orion's Sword" Mish

This is Orion's Sword.  Professor Kyran Mish sent me this picture.  He and his son took the picture on their own equipment on a starry night.  pl

KGOU Interview Landis/Lang

This is the recording of the radio interview I did on KGOU with Doctor Joshua Landis.  The interview was recorded on 17 November, 2008 in Norman Oklahoma at the University of Oklahoma.  pl

Download Lang_interview.mp3

New Year's Reslutions from the East Coast

New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Exult in reconnecting with Pat and Maureen!
2. Remember to try to do something every day to try to make someone’s life better, no matter how small the act may be.
3. Learn to cook more Cajun dishes. I make fabulous gumbo and jambalaya but suck at etoufee. (I lived in New Orleans for 9 years)(I put Tabasco on my popcorn)
4. Listen to more Jesse Winchester.
5. Get the officers slouch hat, 20th Maine, War Between the States, that I’ve put off for 2 years. I think I look like a heavier set George Meade. Way heavier.
6. Take Candace to either Provence or Ireland. How can you lose either way?
7. Restart consulting and never go back to corporate America.
8. Visit my son Bryan at his grad school in Chicago.
9. Shoot a very large buck here in PA. Better than getting one with my Infiniti. A few doe won’t hurt either.
10. Take Bryan’s twin brother, Ian, to both the Guggenheim and the Met and introduce him to Vincent Van Gogh.
11. See more Red Sox games in Camden Yards. Fenway is getting way too expensive.
12. Continue to say, The Yankees Suck, every chance I get.

Michael Chevalier