robklurfield
eclipse
A klutz visiting the Met in NYC for an adult education class stumbled and fell into a Picasso painting, tearing a six-inch whole in the canvas. That's bad. What's possibly worse is the utter over reaction of museums in New York to this unfortunate mishap.
My wife and I went for a visit to the Jewish Museum yesterday, which was running a show of Emmanuel Radnitzky, oops!, Man Ray. The show, "Alias Man Ray", btw, is terrfic.
Anyway, back to our story... upon entering the museum, one has to submit to the usual metal detector and bag search, now customary at many NYC museums. Made it through that check point just fine after being searched again with hand-held metal detector wand, which, amusingly, went off from metal on the person of the security officer ("don't worry," he said, "that's me.")
So far, so good. Not ten steps past the security check point (is this starting to read like a visit to your local international airport???), another guard approached to inform me, "you can't carry that bag into the museum."
At this point, I am wearing one camera around my neck with the lens capped (no pix in the exhibitis) and was in the process of putting my camera bag over my head to wear with the strap running diagonally across my body because it was loaded and heavy yesterday (two more cameras and few lens, etc.). "You have to check that." "Why? The other security said it was fine.".... etc., etc. Finally, this third guard relented and said "you can carry the bag, put you have to carry it in your hands... you can't carry it over your shoulder." I asked what could happen with the bag over my shoulder that couldn't happen with it my hands. No response. I observed that many women in the museum, my Mrs. included, were carrying bags of similar size and dimensions across their shoulders. "Your bag is too bulky."
Cut to about 20 minutes later, now in the middle of the exhibit. Without thinking, I carely and slowly place the bag gentlely on my shoulder only to have a fourth guard appear from behind me warning me that I cannot wear a bag on my shoulder. At this point, I begin dragging my bag by the strap on the floor through the rest of the exhibit as the guard patiently tells my wife that this is a new policy put in place in response to the klutz at the Met.
I find the whole thing to be a mix hilarious and chilling. Hilarious because of its utter absurdity and chilling because of its symbolic relationship to all the other rights we've gradually ceded in an era of fear and worries about terrorists. Also, I appreciate, no, that's the wrong word... I recognize the irony of this relative to failed shoe and underwear bombers. Rather than focusing on the source of the threats -- disaffected, radicalize fundamentalists with axes to grind -- we focus on elements of their attire such as sneakers (Richard Reed, aka the Shoe Bomber) and flaming tighty whitey underpants (the Xmas Bomber).
I can well appreciate after the murderous assault on a guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, why the Jewish Museum in NYC might want to beef up security. I cannot, however, understand the logical or value of allowing to carry a bag, so long as I don't put it my shoulder. Given the nature of the torn Picasso accident, I almost think the guards should be checking at the door for untied shoelacess and overly long trousers. It is in our nature I guess to always be closing the barn door after the cows have absconded without ever considering what we did, if anything, to have allowed them escape in the first place.
Here's a link to an article about the torn painting:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...e_ass_in_picasso_masterpiece_torn_at_met.html
My wife and I went for a visit to the Jewish Museum yesterday, which was running a show of Emmanuel Radnitzky, oops!, Man Ray. The show, "Alias Man Ray", btw, is terrfic.
Anyway, back to our story... upon entering the museum, one has to submit to the usual metal detector and bag search, now customary at many NYC museums. Made it through that check point just fine after being searched again with hand-held metal detector wand, which, amusingly, went off from metal on the person of the security officer ("don't worry," he said, "that's me.")
So far, so good. Not ten steps past the security check point (is this starting to read like a visit to your local international airport???), another guard approached to inform me, "you can't carry that bag into the museum."
At this point, I am wearing one camera around my neck with the lens capped (no pix in the exhibitis) and was in the process of putting my camera bag over my head to wear with the strap running diagonally across my body because it was loaded and heavy yesterday (two more cameras and few lens, etc.). "You have to check that." "Why? The other security said it was fine.".... etc., etc. Finally, this third guard relented and said "you can carry the bag, put you have to carry it in your hands... you can't carry it over your shoulder." I asked what could happen with the bag over my shoulder that couldn't happen with it my hands. No response. I observed that many women in the museum, my Mrs. included, were carrying bags of similar size and dimensions across their shoulders. "Your bag is too bulky."
Cut to about 20 minutes later, now in the middle of the exhibit. Without thinking, I carely and slowly place the bag gentlely on my shoulder only to have a fourth guard appear from behind me warning me that I cannot wear a bag on my shoulder. At this point, I begin dragging my bag by the strap on the floor through the rest of the exhibit as the guard patiently tells my wife that this is a new policy put in place in response to the klutz at the Met.
I find the whole thing to be a mix hilarious and chilling. Hilarious because of its utter absurdity and chilling because of its symbolic relationship to all the other rights we've gradually ceded in an era of fear and worries about terrorists. Also, I appreciate, no, that's the wrong word... I recognize the irony of this relative to failed shoe and underwear bombers. Rather than focusing on the source of the threats -- disaffected, radicalize fundamentalists with axes to grind -- we focus on elements of their attire such as sneakers (Richard Reed, aka the Shoe Bomber) and flaming tighty whitey underpants (the Xmas Bomber).
I can well appreciate after the murderous assault on a guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, why the Jewish Museum in NYC might want to beef up security. I cannot, however, understand the logical or value of allowing to carry a bag, so long as I don't put it my shoulder. Given the nature of the torn Picasso accident, I almost think the guards should be checking at the door for untied shoelacess and overly long trousers. It is in our nature I guess to always be closing the barn door after the cows have absconded without ever considering what we did, if anything, to have allowed them escape in the first place.
Here's a link to an article about the torn painting:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...e_ass_in_picasso_masterpiece_torn_at_met.html
