March 22, 2003

11:28 AM

Something nice.In a refreshingly simple and visually appealing presentation, "Places" explores the synergy between artists and the locations that inspire them. From a virtual landscape created from the surface of an agate, to a 1787 map of Mecca included in the Dala'il al-Khayrat ("Guides to Good Things"), to an 1885 photograph of a single moment captured in the reflection of a gazing ball, these eight fascinating examples seem to suggest that places are nothing so much as what our own observation reveals of them at any given time.
posted by taz (4 comments total)

I think my favorite may be a "map of the sacred universe" in the form of a fabric mandala, with a "road guide" to the rings and their meanings...
posted by taz at 11:29 AM on March 22, 2003

[this is good]
posted by plep at 11:31 AM on March 22, 2003

seeing thomas moran again (i first heard of him via the smithsonian mag.) reminds me of thomas cole, his work prominently featured in utica, n.y.
posted by poopy at 12:26 PM on March 22, 2003

Man, I'm a sucker for this kind of thing; I love anything connected with specific places, and this doesn't just present the images, it gives background and other information (like what's missing from the Mecca map). I just wish they had more... but better eight really good things than a bunch of mediocre ones. Thanks, tazoula!
posted by languagehat at 1:40 PM on March 22, 2003