(Two familiars in one sentence? Maybe the Globe no longer deserves its reputation for great editors. I also note with dismay Smee’s lead, which for no good reason is in the passive voice. Had he wanted to leave a snail’s trail of inertia across his copy, passive would serve him. If not, not. ) <\/p>\n
I’m thinking, for instance, of Sam Durant’s two life-size dioramas that
\nsuggest alternative interpretations of the first Thanksgiving. The
\ndioramas are set up on a circular platform, divided in half, that
\nslowly revolves. One side shows a Native American teaching a pilgrim
\nhow to grow corn (with the help of a buried herring); the other shows
\nCaptain Myles Standish beating to death the Pequot Indian Pecksuot,
\nwhich, the catalog tells us, led to a raid on the Pequots and
\nsubsequent celebration.
\nDurant purchased both displays from the defunct Plymouth National Wax
\nMuseum in Massachusetts. But to what end? The work he has made from
\nthem is as didactic and kitsch as the originals, and it isn’t saved
\nfrom being so by the artist’s ironic know-ingness.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
American exceptionalism means Americans never have to say they’re sorry. <\/p>\n
Smee fell into the trap of reviewing the subject matter, not the art. I don’t mean to imply the trap is easy to avoid. Personally, I’m relieved to see accuracy creeping into American history by way of art or any other way, if only because too many American myths are found there and fuel attitudes that impede progressive change. <\/p>\n
In reacting to Durant, I have to consider whether I am Smee’s twin, responding to what art says rather than what it is. And yet I think it is what it needs to be, an appropriation of frozen moments he sets in motion, fact and fantasy as each other’s form and each other’s shadow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seattle is the last stop for The Old, Weird America: Folk Themes in American Art, and Seattle is lucky to get it. As art museums hunker down with long runs for exhibits featuring objects from their collections, fewer shows travel. If the recession is over, nobody told the art world. The Old, Weird America would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"samdurantthanks.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/samdurantthanks.jpg\")
![\"samdurantthanks2.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/samdurantthanks2.jpg\")
Durant purchased the dioramas from the defunct Plymouth National Wax Museum in Massachusetts. Initially, the museum displayed the accurate version of Thanksgiving’s origins: After Pequot Indian Pecksuot insulted Captain Myles Standish, Standish flew into a rage and killed him. Fearing retribution from Pecksuot’s tribe, Standish organized a raiding party and wiped out the Indians camped nearby. Afterward, settlers celebrated their win by declaring a national day of thanksgiving. <\/p>\n