Erving, MassachusettsYesterday I had to go up to northern MA to meet with a gallery director and hand off a set of prints for an upcoming group show in Vermont. We met in the parking lot of the French King Motel, which is about a quarter mile past this scene, which is an officially designated SPECIAL PLACE.
23 comments:
Hm, "unique qualities of the commonwealth", therefore special. I am afraid, I do not get this. Would you mind explaining this? Might be my German-centric brain ... . Thx.
Martina, this is one of the descriptive terms used by some states in formal documents like their state constitutions or new proclamations. A quick search turned up this relevant definition:
"a formal title of some of the states of the U.S., especially Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia."
Now, as to what a pretty view has to do with 'unique qualities of the commonwealth,' I guess that would be just state boosterism and braggadocio.
Thank you! I misinterpreted the term "commonwealth" for Commonwealth of Nations .. duh .. sometimes ...
Commonwealth of Nations would be the more commonly known general use, so that makes sense. In this use the term shows up mainly in obscure documents and then in just four of the original thirteen states.
Yes, I am still thinking about this - in German you might say "Der Commonwealth" (that is Commonwealth of Nations), while other "commonwealth"'s (like in Commonwealth of Independent States) would be translated to German ("Gemeinschaft").
:-)
Where in Vermont (my fair state) will you be exhibiting?
As a German translation, how about "Der Gemeinreichtum von Massachusetts?" Growing up in the NE, I was aware of Pennsylvania and Mass as Commonwealths, and maybe of Virginia, but never Kentucky. Thanks for the bit of history. The view you shot looks nice, but aren't there even more special places along the northern ends of the Housatonic, and especially the Hudson, say from the Bear Mountain bridge?
scott
John, it's called Edgewater Gallery, in Middlebury. I understand it's in a wonderful old mill building. It was a craft center for some time, but is under new ownership and management and moving in the direction of fine art gallery space. I haven't had a chance to visit yet.
Scott,
There are plenty of more spectacular views. I suspect the point is that you can see this one from your car as you cross the state on Rt. 2. You can park right at the west side of the bridge and walk back a hundred yards to the point I shot the picture. Most Great Views take considerably more effort to access.
Scott, sounds German, but I fear it is not, I am sorry.
"Gemeinwesen" or "Gemeinschaft" could be the appropriate terms, but they lack of course the concept of "wealth", you are right.
Carl, sorry for hijacking your thread, :-(. Back to photography, I promise. ;-)
"Carl, sorry for hijacking your thread, :-(. Back to photography, I promise. ;-)"
Not at all, Martina. This has been fascinating. Anyway, I think photography should be about the world, not about photography. So a picture that sends people into a multi-lingual discussion of how geopolitical units label themselves is probably a lot better than one that inspires folks to ask, "what lens did you use..."
Martina, my German is rudimentary, but I was trying to construct something with the old-timey resonance of "Fürstentum." America initially defined itself in opposition to the aristocratic absentee landowners that started the colonies and created equally elaborate democratic phrases. Some of that pride still shows, but I am afraid that American linguistic innovation has passed over to silly (and scary) people like the Tea Party. Which you can also see in this blog.
scott
Scott (since Carl does not mind, :-)), for "rudimentary" German this is a very good compositum - everything is alright and now we can wait for the internet to spread this new word :-).
Before my misconception of commonwealth at the beginning of this thread I never thought about the literal meaning of common wealth - 1470, "public welfare, general good" and now I wonder why there is no German equivalent. (Thanks to Carl and his hint to geopolitcal units and their labels , I never thought about this whole matter, too)
I truly like the idea of common wealth (mid-13c., "happiness,") but I am not so sure if this is the intended meaning on official government plates ;-)
You are talking about the 2009 Tea Party - not the 1773? Sorry, I really am at a loss ... .
postscriptum: after a heated discussion in our livingroom about the concept of commonwealth and its true meaning my SO and I agreed to res publica - not German, either ;-) - what a photo can evoke! Thank you, Carl, :-)
Martina,
What Scott mentions can be found using this search link:
http://workingpictures.blogspot.com/search?q=teabag
or, search for the label 'political action' on WPII. You'll see what he's talking about right quick.
Thanks Carl, it is the Tea Bag 2009 as I've already thought. I will have a look at these posts tomorrow - time to go to bed in Germany, :-)
Martina, it is the Tea Party of 2010 as well. Carl will have more of it to show you, if he chooses. I woke up in Israel yesterday to find that a teabagger candidate had won the election to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term in Massachusetts, and is already being talked about as presidential timber, a leader on the scale of Sarah Palin.
These are scary times.
scott
Scott, yes, after Carl's link I recalled having read all this in the blog - and putting it aside as some "small local movement that does not have any impact". Scary - the instrumentalisation of people always is.
"and putting it aside as some "small local movement that does not have any impact"."
The thing is that the "astroturf" works really well. Corporate-backed organizations set up many local branches--there are even website templates which appear to me to have been intentionally made to look amateurish so that visitors get the impression they are looking at genuine grassroots actions by concerned citizens. With this highly organized behind-the-scenes promotion the teabaggers are very widespread even if they represent a 1-in-5 fringe group. The scary thing is that 20% of the American population is a hell of a big number.
Carl, after reading your comment I googled "tea bag party" ... intentionally made to look amateurish - this perfectly describes the first hit. I whois'ed to no avail but of course it is a .org .. am I cynical?
The scary thing is that 20% of the American population is a hell of a big number. - voting ...
Scott, Carl, I just read that "More than 40 percent of US citizens now think that Tea Party activism is a good thing." Link - I was looking for some German articles and views about Tea Party and had to go the English version of a German newspaper. Thought it interesting - therefore the link.
Martina, it has just gotten worse with the US Supreme Court yesterday issuing a Teabagger-worthy ruling that corporations as "persons" are entitled to spend as much as they want to affect any election they are interested in. This disaster of a ruling can only be reversed by passage of a Constitutional Amendment, an extremely arduous undertaking. Meanwhile representative democracy is about to belong to the highest bidder.
In this context, isn't democracy an oxymoron?
That is absurd, isn't it?
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