Notices by Tarnport (tarnport@mastodon.green)

The older I get the more suspicious I am of any pre-packaged history. I spent some time today reading up on things I thought I already knew about the Seminole Tribe of Florida, before I wrote any more about it in my novel. Turns out I didn't know jack, had maybe 5% right of what I learned in just a cursory dig. The superficial "made for export" simplified storylines and profiles (physical appearance is one, too) are always presented by people with something to gain. I should know that by now.

Not to seem mysterious about it, here's a few of the surprises: They were not independent of OK Seminoles til 1957, and at the same time largely converted Southern Baptist, led by their first chief Billy Osceola! The signature sunhat-like women's asymmetrical hairstyle was only a 1930s generational fad based on retail womenswear. It only lasted 20 years but it was the 20 years during which the Seminoles of Florida became documented and better known, thanks to the Florida tourism boom. (cont'd)

(cont'd) The dolls, patchwork textiles, and many "traditional" crafts we think of as their culture were in fact in no way traditional until tourists starting coming to FL and money was to be made. They did not exist before that. Lastly (and best imo) alligator wrestling was intentionally cultivated and learned by importing a guy from Louisiana to teach them the moves. I mean, good for them! Make the money to feed their families off American hegemonic exotism. But nothing is as it seems.

Also, the first "Seminole Villages" attractions were 100% outsiders making tourist bait. Later the Seminoles began their own such enterprises, but the boom came from outside and they were hired actors on a payroll. It is a fascinating, surprisingly modern, compelling, beautiful story of a native people - really just a remnant of 200 left to die in the swamp - who took what they had and leveraged themselves into the modern world. They were almost destroyed 3 times, and still, there they are.

Roberto Aizenberg. Abanico, 1979.

The date places this painting just after the unimaginable horrors he endured during the Argentinian dictatorship. As we look ahead without certainty toward Tuesday, it's at least comforting to know that humanity, even art, has survived so much.

#painting

From the wonderful Greg Snyder of Precinct 206 Dems in NC, in his newsletter just now:

"Now would be an excellent time to turn off all cable news, ignore all polls and news analysis, and go do some voter contact. In just a few days, any opportunity to make a difference in this most consequential election will have slipped through your fingers.

We still have a few signs, in case the ones you got a few days ago have already been stolen!

Stay calm and collected..."

He's such a gem.

This is a photo of Al Green holding hands with Ann Peebles in 1971, taken by Bud Lee.

I had never seen it. I've had it for 2 days now and I'm still speechless. Just figure I should at least share. It may be all we ever need.

Gustave Van de Woestyne.

The Sleepers, 1918.

Self-Portrait, ~1900.

Farm Family, ~1912.

The Last Supper, 1927.

He reminds me of Stanley Spencer sometimes, at other times of Holbein the Younger. He intended this exact hermeneutic arc, I think.

#painting

@lionelb yes! And a whole lot of that other side of Europe in general strangely

@lionelb And then there's this. He dug deep sometimes into his influences. I didn't select it in the above group because I thought it would overwhelm his more usual oeuvre.

Matazō Kayama. A Thousand Cranes, 1970.

These are 2 separate large folding screens which pay homage to earlier 16th century works. I find the set really moving, even with as little as I know of its antecedents in Japanese art.

#painting on 12 silk panels

Van Gogh. Tree Roots, 1890.

It's his last #painting at just 37yo, but you see where he was going - this is nearly pure abstraction. Imagine what his next few years could have held.

This picture got a lot of attention just a short while ago in 2020, after researches identified the exact site near Auvers where it was painted.

Bonjour les Mastodons.
Consider giving aid to my friend and co-worker. Her mountain home was in a landslide, no food water gasoline roads electricity internet or cell. She's getting rare updates out by sending a cell with others to a signal. See her Instagram for more. She has 2 small kids. She's a writer, an artist, and a good person. She's in trouble and needs help. Her PayPal: Spirit Dirt @milaroeder
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Edward Wadsworth. Bronze Ballet # 1, 1940.

I believe he understood A LOT, and he painted across several genres to prove it. He was one of the main technical Dazzle-Ship painters, for example. Here he is being playful and light, smack in the middle of another World War. They say he could hear bombs falling as he painted this.

#painting

Stella. Hagmatana III, 1967.

It's 10 feet tall and it does not want to be anything more than surface. In the 1972 video he talks about 1959, which is the equivalent of 2011 from our own time. The pace of social change after 1960 was incredible. Also I think pot must have been milder, for him to just keep going on like that, never mind the camera person and the b&w/color.

https://youtu.be/cN_rRCfRdmQ?feature=shared

#painting

Cezanne. The Bridge at Maincy, 1879.

I have a soft spot for paintings which highlight an obscure place or viewpoint which almost anyone else would miss.

#painting

Some French fall color and trivia for you today:

Van Gogh. Two works from 1889, both painted while on day-leave from the asylum in Saint-Rémy. They are often conflated and confused.

The first #painting is called The Large Plane Trees, and it was executed on a tablecloth.

The second one is a copy on canvas, called The Road Menders.

I'm amazed by how few alterations he came to in repeating the work.

@bmacDonald94 ha! Did they follow that?

@bmacDonald94 in college during counterprotested pride parades we used to whisper all together, "Bring back the lions. Bring back the lions." Theyd eventually quiet down just to try and make out what everyone was chanting. It was worth it just to see their faces.