Richmond Arts

Building a montage on Richmond Arts

Client: Richmond Magazine

AD: Steve Hedberg

Don't Ask Don't Tell is Wrong

The attached concept sketches and illustration were created to accompany an article in American Lawyer Magazine. The article was critical of the military policy that discriminates against the gay/lesbian community by specifically asking them to lie about who they are.

Client: American Lawyer Magazine

Art Director: Joan Ferrell

The Nope Party

New Republican Party Logo

Pronounced G – No – P, for Grand No Party, or simply “Nope” with

a silent “g” like in gnat.

copyright, Robert Meganck, 2010

Backward to Intolerance

On February 5, 2010, Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell signed an executive order barring discrimination in the state workforce on grounds that include race, sex, religion and age, but not sexual orientation, making it legal for an employer to ask an employee (or potential employee) their sexual orientation. If the respondent declares that he or she is gay, the employee can be fired or refused employment based on his or her sexual orientation.

This is a regressive policy, which condones the idea that the gay and lesbian community is somehow less worthy of protection from anti-discriminatory policies, making them the targets of bigotry in the workplace. This arcane policy says that civil rights do not pertain to gays and lesbians, and is rooted in the notion that the gay and lesbian community is a destructive - not constructive - force. What Governor McDonnell clearly fails to recognize is that homosexuals do not unravel the fabric of our society; they are very much a part of it. They are an integral part of our racial, ethnic and cultural diversity. They serve us as doctors and educators, and are active members of our military. They work to make the Commonwealth a healthier, more educated and safer place. We don’t know who they are because many choose not to flaunt their sexual orientation openly. However, prejudicial policies like this may be what force them to conceal their identity.

It took three years after the passage of the civil rights amendment for Virginia to recognize interracial marriages. While many States are moving towards the recognition of same-sex marriages, and the Federal government is moving towards the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Virginia is moving backwards, to a state of intolerance. This policy makes it acceptable for Virginia employers to discriminate against some of its citizens, not because of what they have done, but because of who they are. If we allow such a policy to take effect, we are only condoning the type of discrimination that we, as a country, fought so hard to disarm for decades. We cannot let Virginia digress while the rest of the world is working to progress.

Kiss Vs. ABBA

Burn your Rock and Roll Hall of Fame membership card in protest. It seems that last month when they (The RRHF jury) announced next year’s inductees -- for the third year in a row -- Kiss didn’t make the cut. Remember “Detroit Rock City” and weep. It’s not that I’m that upset about them dissing Kiss, but I am upset about the fact that ABBA made it. That’s right, the mediocre disco band that gave us “Dancing Queen.” The Sweds’ know as much about Rock and Roll as they do about making car. Who the heck are these judges, and what are they thinking? Have they run out of real Rock and Rollers? Hey you dumb ass judges, “how about Joe Cocker, CSNY, Alice Cooper, or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.” As hard as it is to believe, Joe Cooker or Cosby Stills Nash and Young (both who appeared at Woodstock) have not yet been inducted. Detroit should be up in arms that its’ home boy/girl/or whatever, Alice Cooper is too much for the RRHF. And what do these guys have against The Chili Peppers -- maybe they’re too spicy. I am glad that among next year’s inductees are: The Stooges, Genesis and Jimmy Cliff. But I think, to save face, each of them should refuse to stand on the same stage with ABBA.

I frequently refer to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as my Mecca. I generally face northwest at least once a day and bow my head. Come March 15, 2010, I plan to face southeast, bend over, lower my pants to show the-powers-that-be in Cleveland what I think of their induction ceremony.

On Context

As reported in the Washington Post: Pearls Before Breakfast by Gene Weingarten on Sunday, April 8, 2007.

On January 12, at 7:51 a.m. a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeve T-shirt and Washington Nationals baseball cap positioned himself against a wall next to the L’enfant Plaza Metro station. He pulled a violin out of its’ case, turned the case around, put a few dollars in it as seed money and began to play.

During the next 43 minutes while he preformed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. After 3 minutes, one middle aged man turned his head to listen before moving on. Shortly after, a women threw a buck in the case. In the time that he played, seven people stopped for a moment to listen, 27 gave money for a total of $32 and change.

The violinist was Joshua Bell, a onetime child prodigy and an internationally acclaimed virtuoso. Three days prior to the Metro station performance, he played to a filled house at Boston’s Symphony Hall where OK seats went for $100.

The violin was a $3.5 million Stradivarius. The music was some of the most beautiful classical music ever written.

This story is interesting on so many levels. Among the most interesting is the importance of context. How the simple act of taking something out of one environment and placing it in another changes our perceptions. Take a man in a tuxedo, place him among others in tuxedos all holding musical instruments and he becomes a classical musician. Take that same person and put him in a fancy restaurant standing next to a table and he becomes a waiter, or again place the same person standing next to a women in a wedding dress and he becomes a groom. A tree without leaves among other trees without leaves is dormant; a tree without leaves among other trees with leaves is dead. Context is, of course, why politicians give interviews in front of the Capital Building, and why lawyers like to be pictured in front of massive bookcases, and why the cars we drive are more then mere transportation vehicles. Context has us believe that someone sitting behind a TV news desk is giving us real news, void of bias, and has us believe that attending a concert with a $100 ticket is worth more than one at some local venue. We like our classical musicians in black ties performing in concert halls, our politicians in suits, our doctors in lab coats, and our rock musicians (even though some can afford Armani) in jeans and T-shirts that look like they came from the Salvation Army. “You’ve got to suffer if you want to sing the Blues,” and you have to look the part if you want us to believe you.

Also quoted in the story was a senior curator at the National Gallery, who stated that if he were to take a $5 million abstract masterpiece out of its frame and out of the National Gallery, walk it down the street to one of the restaurants where student artists hang work and put a price tag on it for $150, no one would take notice.

Why do we automatically assume that a painting hung on a wall of a gallery is better than an illustration that appears in a magazine? And if so, what makes one painting more valuable then another? What roll do critics play? Does the value of something simply rest with the expertise of others? Are we so insecure about our opinions that we are willing to let critics and jurors decide what is good and what is bad?

We, for the most part, do not make decisions based on facts, but rather on perceptions. Not what is real, good or bad, but what we believe to be real, good or bad. And these opinions are highly influenced by the taste of others and highly influenced by context.

Vincent Van Gogh is regarded as one of history’s greatest painters and possibly the most important contributor to the foundation of modern art. His Portrait of Dr. Gachet is among the 10 highest priced paintings ever sold at auction, yet during his lifetime he never sold a painting. No critics in his life ever took notice of his work. He shot himself believing his works were valueless.

In 1963 when both “Meet the Beatles” and “The Freewheeling Bob Dylan” were released, Robert Goulet won the Grammy for best new artist. Put that in context.

One additional item noted in the article was that while most adults did their best to avoid eye contact with the violinist, every child that passed took notice. Every child that day tried to stop and listen, and in every case they were scooted away by a parent. I wonder if any of these parents were the type who strapped speakers to their abdomen so that her unborn child can listen to Mozart prenatally and arrive in this world with a jump-start on culture.

The big question raised by the article is how much that is truly beautiful do we miss. And I wonder if I had been at that plaza station on January 12, 2007, on my way to fetch a cappuccino, would I have stopped?

R2

Why we can’t seem to pass Health Care Reform

“Politics is more dangerous than war, for in war you are only killed once.”

Winston Churchill

“Politics is the diversion of trivial men who, when they succeed at it, become important in the eyes of more trivial men.”

George Jean Nathan

How do we take pride in a representative government when the strings of the individuals we elect to represent us are controlled by the parties with whom they are associated and the special interest groups that put them there? It’s little wonder that Washington is so screwed up when the majority of votes cast are because voters don’t like the other guy. They don’t always like the person they vote for, but they are confident in their assessment that the other guy would be worse.

The health care system is in trouble. Everyone in congress knows it. The problem is that those in congress don’t want to upset the Health Care System that is financing their campaigns. And they don’t know how to pass responsible bipartisan legislation without giving some credit to the other party. It seems they would rather do nothing and campaign on “I tried to do something, but the other guy wouldn’t let me,” than having to give credit to the other guy. Those who cry the loudest, and call the President a Socialist are taking a line straight from Mao Zedong’s playbook, “Support whatever the enemy opposes, and oppose whatever the enemy supports.” Politicians have very short-term goals. They can’t think beyond the next election, and in the process of getting laid, don’t care who they screw along the way. I vote that come the next election, we dump the whole bunch.

R2