“Presentense” - a Jewish magazine, put out a call on their facebook group for submissions relating to the topic of “Food and the Jews”. They were looking for artists and photographers that would help them capture this theme and its meaning for young Jews around the world today.

I thought that this would be a good opportunity to reconnect with my Jewish roots because I felt that since my last trip to the US I had been neglecting this side of my creative endeavors in favor of the hyper and cooler political-pop stuff. The concept I thought of, as I was driving to Jerusalem on my scooter (great thinking time that ride…), was to try and see if I could come up with my own little food related Yiddish idiom.

For those of you not familiar with Yiddish it is the language spoken by European Jews in former centuries and is a hodge-podge mix of German, Polish, Hebrew and bits and pieces of other languages as well. Yiddish is the language that has given the world the words: Meshugana, Putz and Oy-Vey, and is famous for it’s juicy, often humorous idioms; Idioms that best express the true character of European Jewry in all it’s splendor and misery.

I chose the lowly bagel as the topic of my piece, because of all Jewish foods it has gained the widest international acceptance. Sadly the bagel’s fame came at a price. As the bagel moved out of the Kosher neighborhood deli and into the Gentile global chains it had to obscure it’s Jewish past in order to fit in, to the point that today most of the world’s bagel eating population is entirely unaware of this pastry’s humble Jewish origins.

Somehow this seems to me to have relevance that goes beyond foodstuffs. The simple fact is that Jews in the diaspora have been losing touch with their heritage for very similar reasons. Their urge to fit-in and gain acceptance in the Gentile societies they live in, and perhaps especially in the USA, has led to a gradual but relentless attrition of their Jewish identities. Although this phenomenon is not unique to Jews, and is well documented in all immigrant societies, somehow it seems as if we Jews have been particularly willing to give up our heritage in favor of acceptance from our surroundings…

The idiom below came to me in a flash of inspiration and at least to my ears it seems to resound with Shtetl wisdom, where the humblest of metaphors often alludes to the most sublime principles of being”

“The black hole you see is nothing but the middle of the sweet bagel G-d has baked for you”

…and in Yiddish: דער שווארצער לאך וואס דוא גייסט איז נאר דער מיטעל פון דעם זיסען בייגל וואס ג-ט האט געבאקען פאר דיר

…transliterated: Der schwartze lach was du geist is nar der mitle fon dem zisen beygale was Gott hat gebaken far dir

Special thanks for the translation are due to my friend Ruth Levine, whose Yiddish cabaret “Der Blaaue Ketz” recreates the atmosphere and vibe of the type of entertainment enjoyed by German Jewry (my ancestry). The art of Jewish Cabaret was just one more thing humanity lost in the ovens at Auschwitz…

A while ago a gentleman emailed me asking if I planned a print in response to the financial situation. Two days ago, that crisis hit home when the firm I’ve been working for “downsized” half it’s workforce in a single day, causing me, and 14 other unfortunates, to become unemployed.

I don’t know if it was getting laid off (for the 1st time in my life) that did it, but today as I was driving up to Jerusalem the creative block dissolved and I got a vision for my response. The paradigm I was facing was how to be critical of those I perceive as being responsible for the crisis, without being too blatantly offensive (as I am prone to be). I also wanted to offer a vision of hope, rather than one of gloom and doom. Ever since Ahmadinejad’s Daughter I feel like I need to balance out some of the negativity and today, after Obama’s victory, seemed like a great day to do it.

I think I’d like to make a print based on a classic “Lot’s Wife ” piece where I would retain the composition but replace the unfortunate and disobedient Lot’s wife with a banker type character looking over his shoulder.

Instead of Sodom and Gemoroh I would have the crumbling bastions of capitalism represented by a skyscraper skyline. At the foreground, or maybe on the side, I would have a group of people fleeing the catastrophe towards a safer, greener, simpler existence.

I guess I’d try and capture the Utopian vision that Bill Gates has for a post-capitalist society, mix it up with a vision of a more ecologically friendly world, and offer it as a new Eden.

After the events of last night it was time to get back to the art, so we took to the road and enjoyed the open skies and the closed tunnels.

Because I am so interested in Political Pop Art the SOWA Artists Guild didn’t arrange that I meet Abraham Obama and a freakish yet friendly dog.
We all smelled each other politely after which I left my scent on Obama.

After investing my assets in some really yummy cuttlefish sushi at a cutting edge Banq I meandered down to Boston’s kitschy river bank where I discovered that sometimes even grass grates.

Later on in the day I commissioned Genzyme to help me with some corporate art. After all they might be giants but for the tree…

If none of this makes sense to you then I suggest you click on the slide-show and visit the Picasa album where you’ll find the captions I wrote for these photos…

As always, if you want to download a photo you can click on the slide-show and that will lead you to the album with the higher res images.
You can use the photos in any way you choose but I’d appreciate it if you gave me credit and provided a link to my website or blog - MikeDarnell.name.

All the best,
Mike

PS
My one regret is that I missed the SOWA artwalk - maybe next time…

My 2nd day in Boston was spent at the Institute of Contemporary Art, where photos are not allowed “…to protect the art”.

I walked around Quincy Market where I learned to appreciate lobster rolls - in a word YUM! : )

My day ended with a 50 minute wait for a 50 minute party in the Middlesex Lounge at a Hearthrob event that I had read about in Boston’s Weekly Dig. It was pretty cool for a Tuesday night I guess.

Shame that the lights went on at 1:00 AM though.

What’s wrong with this country?!?

To enjoy the full experience I suggest you click on the slide-show and visit the Picasa album because half the experience is the captions…

As always, if you want to download a photo you can click on the slide-show and that will lead you to the Picasa album where they are all stored. You can use the photos in any way you desire, I only ask that you give me credit and provide a link to my website or blog - MikeDarnell.name.

The following post was taken from an email thread of ongoing correspondence between George Stiehl, publisher of Citizen LA, and myself:

“…
That single night in LA when we met was very educating to me - In a city notorious for its fake facades, plastic angels and tinsel devils, that night, indeed my entire week long visit, gave me truer insights than much of the rest of my life. I have already left LA but I would like to share with you a thought that I have had ringing in mind ever since our meeting. It relates to our brief discussion about the power of being an unknown innocent, and it takes us back in time over 300 years so buckle up…

more?

In 1697 Tsar Peter the Great, arguably the greatest ruler Russia has ever had, traveled through Europe for a year and a half on a journey he hoped would give him insights as to how to advance his backward homeland. This epic and unparalleled journey has since been come to be known as “The grand embassy” and is probably one of the most incredible stories about leadership, humility and wisdom, that mankind has ever witnessed…

What is unique about Tsar Peter’s trip is that he elected to make this journey incognito, traveling not as the Tsar of Russia, but as a low ranking nobleman…

There was a method to Peter’s madness that proves just how great this leader truly was.
Peter instinctively sensed that a traveling Tsar was bound to be presented with a warped, beautified, and tinsely version of reality. By electing to travel incognito he was granted unique opportunities for learning that would never have been accessible to him as a touring Tsar:

Peter studied shipbuilding in Holland, gaining hands-on practical experience in the largest shipyard in the world of his day, he even helped with the construction of a vessel he himself had commissioned there. He learned trades and crafts from skilled workers, locksmiths, shipwrights and seamen. He was taught how to draw teeth, quench fires and even how to catch butterflies…

On his return to Russia Peter embarked on implementing all he had learned for the betterment of his nation, and though he had inherited an uneducated, untrained, uncivilized and superstitious country that had till his day excluded itself from European society, economy, and politics, during the 42 years of his reign Peter modernized Russia to such an extent that by the time he died it was a superpower not to be trifled with ever again.

For his efforts, while still in reign, Tsar Peter was honored with the title “the Great, Father of His Country, Emperor of All the Russias”.

Far from me to compare myself to a figure of Peter’s magnitude, I simply offer his inspiring story as validation to the idea we discussed while waiting to pee. I would also dare to suggest that the citizens of your city of angels might benefit from having they’re finely crafted images reflected back at them once in a while in an innocent and undistorted mirror, perhaps one traveling incognito
…”

: )
Mike