Walk down the aisle and back in time at Dr. Woods House - Leduc Representative - Alberta, CA

Walk down the aisle and back in time at Dr. Woods House - Leduc Representative - Alberta, CA

Exhibit of British Television Comedy

The Ant, An Introduction

The recent controversy stemming from Ricky Gervais’ hosting job at the Golden Globes Awards has provided the perfect opportunity to examine British humour in general, and British television comedy, in particular, the medium that made Ricky Gervais a household name.  Why did American critics rankle at the apparently unbridled humour by Gervais and what does this highlight about the character of British humour? 

    

People go on quite a bit about the differences between American and British humour.  To sum up generally, the difference can be stated as sentiment versus irony.  Both places have both types, but each concentrates on one style and does not understand the others’ apparently excessive use of the other style. 

What is British Comedy, anyway?  The thing is, British comedy is rarely just one thing and is often a combination of many things.  Those things include, but are not limited to laughing at naughty words, sexual innuendo, satire of the class system, mocking authority figures, slapstick, farce, puns and word-play, accenting the British tendency towards embarrassment, and generally pointing out the absurdities of modern life, often by putting it in a foreign context for contrast.  

British television comedy can plausibly be separated into two eras, before Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-1974) and after.  Monty Python having been described as The Beatles of comedy had their precedents and influences and then there are the comedies that were influenced by Monty Python.  

There are also those milestones in British comedy that have sometimes changed the face of comedy worldwide.  Monty Python is of course one example of this. Though it must be said that one of the true hallmarks of British humour is its unrestrained nature, and that is why it has garnered so many non-British fans around the world.  The original cast of Saturday Night Live have said many times that their main influence was Monty Python.  They were put on at a previously unwatched timeslot on American television, where they still reside, because of their take on uninhibited British comedy.   

To be continued...

The Wolf of Badenoch - A Notorious Knight: What is Knighthood & Chivalry

The main issue here is similar to that of how to display a controversial subject.  That is, how is one able to display an artefact that is associated with a complex concept with many preconceived notions attached to that concept.  Also, as an artefact, it is unwieldy and immovable.

Stone effigy of Alexander Stewart (The Wolf of Badenoch) at Dunkeld Cathedral, Scotland

Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan 'Wolf of Badenoch'

Who was this knight?

The man…

Alexander Stewart was third eldest son of King Robert II, earl of Buchan, lord of Badenoch, and Justiciar of the North.  Closely associated with the northeast highlands, he also became known as Alisdair Mor mac an Righ (Alexander the Big, son of the king).  As earl and Justiciar it was his role to dispense justice, often in a necessary high-handed fashion.  Though he gained a reputation for cruelty in the south, he was highly respected within his jurisdiction.  

Elgin Cathedral 'The Lantern of the North'

His reputation was set over a dispute with the bishop of Elgin.  Alexander’s wife, the countess of Ross remained childless, while his mistress, who he lived with at Lochindorb castle, provided him with several children.  His eldest child was named after himself, later earl of Mar.  The bishop refused to grant him a divorce so he could make his children legitimate.  In revenge, he burnt Elgin Cathedral, along with half the town and monasteries.  He was excommunicated, ordered by his brother, the king to do penance, and then forgiven. 

The legend…

After Alexander's death in 1406 tales and rumours circulated about a visit to one of his bases, Ruthven Castle, by a tall man dressed in black who said he was there to play chess with the earl.  After many hours playing, the unknown man called ‘checkmate’, rose from the table, when a terrible thunder and hail storm suddenly appeared.  The storm cleared by the morning when the earl’s men were found outside the castle struck by lightening.  The earl was found dead in the great hall with his boot nails removed, but with no mark on his body. 

The storms returned during the funeral procession and only stopped when the earl’s coffin was carried at the rear.  It was feared that the unknown chess player was the devil come to pay him for all the evil he had committed.  Out of fear of further retribution, he was not buried locally but at far away Dunkeld Cathedral.  

Dunkeld today

The setting…

Dunkeld Cathedral

The current cathedral was built during King Robert 1’s reign, about 85 years before the earl’s internment.  It was largely ruined during the Reformation (c. 1560).  Despite the ruins, it now appears to be little more than a small parish church.  Hence, its current appearance obscures the importance this cathedral once had.  Strategically important since the Romans, St. Columba established the first church here.  The first King of Scots, Kenneth macAlpin, made this his capital , and generously endowed the church. 

What is Chivalry? 

What does the life of Alexander Stewart say about chivalry?

‘By whatever means necessary’ is not exactly a quote to describe chivalry, but it could be used to characterize the reality of the activity and behaviour of knights in the fourteenth century.   For knights the reality was that whatever behaviour supported their ambition, or at least did not hinder it, was how they chose to act.  Alexander Stewart was one of these knights.  What he and knights like him through the centuries would do, was to shape the ideals of chivalry to suit their ambitions.  Personal gain and success were what mattered most.  

However, Alexander's story does tell us a few things.  He was Justiciar of the North for the Crown.  He had to enforce royal law on a highland culture that was unused to the customs of the south on a land that had their own traditions.  Therefore, he had to adapt to their ways to enforce what passed for peace in those days.  To authorities in the south, once they heard of alien methods in use by one of their own, judgement and opinion would quickly be made against him—that he had become wicked and even criminal.  He was a knight, but was practicing methods outside the south’s accepted code of behaviour, which they would also regularly violate.  

What most of us learn what chivalry is

Chivalry was a tool used by the nobility to separate themselves from the rest of society through unique types of behaviour.  In theory, breaking this code of behaviour was considered disloyalty to the order of knighthood, but also to the natural order of the world and would be punishable by death. 

It is in this light we can view the story and the legend of Alexander Stewart.  If we look beneath the surface of the legend it says much about chivalry and the norms of the time.  By breaking the civilised or accepted order of accepted knightly behaviour and conforming to the little understood highland culture of the fourteenth century, he had committed a great evil.  Because of his situation geographically and politically, he had been placed outside of normal punishment.  Therefore, the only fitting result was a visit from the devil himself.    

What does the Dunkeld Cathedral effigy say about chivalry?

There are various things to look for in knight’s effigies.  Pose of body, clothing styles, armor and heraldic devices, animals, symbols of authority depicted in armor makes clear that he is a knight.  A lion at his feet may simply mean that he is a member of the royal family.  Was a knight really expected to protect the weak and the poor?  If it meant those he legally had the duty to protect, then yes.  Could it be that this was simply where this rule came from?  Can we answer any of these questions by examining the artifact?

  

Scots were seen by outsiders as poorly equipped rabble, which this and other effigys can be seen to contradict.  An arming act passed by the Scottish Parliament was nearly identical to one passed by the English Parliament.  It stated that anyone owning more than £10 of property must possess fairly substantial minimum standard of armor.   A knight could be struck by a sword in the chest and not be wounded.  Additional information like this reveals values held and aspects of the economy.  

Exhibit Questions and Strategies

Challenging accepted wisdom

What does chivalry mean to you? What can knighthood mean to us when the knights we see are Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Sean Connery? 

Nearly everyone has some idea of what chivalry is.  It is still around us in popular culture and speech.  If anything, the audience will be reminded of this and how relevant this concept is still in the 21st century?

How does modern literature accurately reflect chivalry in the 14th century? What is the difference between courtesy and chivalry?   Describe how symbolism was important to medieval people and the respect the were shown after death displayed feelings towards the departed.      

The challenge of displaying the artefact  

Could this be best achieved by moving the artefact to the exhibit location or placing the exhibit where the artefact is?  Both are problematic.  Could a duplicate model be constructed or could a 3D computer model be displayed?  The latter seems most likely.

Google Art Project Brings World's Art Museums to You

Earlier this month Google launched a new online service which will allow art lovers to virtually explore hundreds of famous works found in seventeen galleries from around the world. The Google Art Project brings together some of the company’s unique technology, such as Street View that will allow visitors not only to look at various works of arts, but explore the rooms and places they are kept in. The galleries involved in the project include The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Tate Britain & The National Gallery in London, Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Klimt - 'Love'

Amit Sood, Head of Google Art Project, wrote on the Official Google Blog, “It started when a small group of us who were passionate about art got together to think about how we might use our technology to help museums make their art more accessible—not just to regular museum-goers or those fortunate to have great galleries on their doorsteps, but to a whole new set of people who might otherwise never get to see the real thing up close.”
One of the main features of this website is the ability to examine these art works in great detail. Sood explains that they were able to use “super high resolution or “gigapixel” photo-capturing technology. Each of these images contains around 7 billion pixels—that’s that’s around 1,000 times more detailed than your average digital camera.”

Lesley Bailie: A Scots Ballad - World Digital Library

More for tomorrow's Burns Day. Original Burns manuscript in his own handwriting. No wonder he was popular with the ladies, writing stuff like this. For more Burns go to http://www.robertburns.org/.
Lesley Bailie: A Scots Ballad - World Digital Library
Upcoming will be my first full virtual exhibit that I'm still working on.

A Toast to Robert Burns Day - January 25

Art Gallery of Alberta apologizes, changes breastfeeding policy

Art Gallery of Alberta apologizes, changes breastfeeding policy

Okay, I'm going to get a bit controversial here.  I saw this story last week on the news in Edmonton and came across it online again today, and I can't resist sharing my (objective and professional) opinion here.  Now, I am not and I don't think anyone who makes the policies at the Art Gallery of Alberta, against public breastfeeding.  As a whole, the professional museum community in Canada are a fairly liberal bunch.  However, keeping food and drink away from exhibits and artifacts is a very important and usually rigorously enforced policy in just about every museum.  Often this is a delicate balance when a museum as a public space is used for various purposes, such as receptions of various kinds, and teas where food is served.  Still, a big effort is made to keep any food away from the artefacts.  This is an extremely important policy to enforce, since as part of the public trust, the museum must protect the objects in their care from damage, which food and drink can easily cause.  Even if the artefacts are not directly damaged, pests of various sorts can be attracted to the areas where they are stored or displayed.  Hopefully, you will never catch a museum worker eating their lunch in a storage room.

Going back to the AGA, if another patron was eating a self-contained piece of food on the same bench as the lady had fed her baby, the same request would have been made, to take it out of the exhibit room.  The management stated they had nothing against the breastfeeding, just not where food was not allowed.  There are benches and chairs outside of each exhibit room where the feeding could have taken place just as easily.  I really hate to say it, but this is a case where public pressure and political correctness has taken over common sense (and professional expertise), and the museum management caved into it for the sake of avoiding bad publicity.  The father of the baby stated that  “There should be no limitations whatsoever at the AGA when it comes to breastfeeding”.  Really?  So how is it that someone with no museum training whatsoever should be dictating exhibition policy?  If the lighting is too dim for his eyesight on a sensitive and valuable painting, should they also turn up the lights for him, thereby causing damage to the artefact?

The response from the AGA, though caving into the demands did begin appropriately defiantly, stating, “As a professional museum dedicated to the preservation and presentation of art, the AGA must maintain policies that ensure the safety of the works of art in our care".  That is where it should have ended, where the museum states their reasoning, while also stating that another area for breastfeeding within the gallery would have been more appropriate, not for modesty or anyone's standards of decorum, but solely for the purposes of preservation of the galleries collection.  Let's not forget that much of the works on display in the galleries are on loan from other institutions and may be extremely valuable, so the gallery has an important trust to ensure they are sent back in the same condition in which they were received.

Is it different if a baby is being bottle fed or if a 5-year old is drinking from a juice box?  Where do you stop relaxing the restrictions?  The answer is that no, it should not be different.  Policies must be enforced consistently and not be altered to avoid being on the wrong side of a sensitive social issue. 

The Internship: The RCR Museum

First, I must apologise for the delay in creating this next posting.  Not only was starting a new job and Christmas a distraction, but there was some procrastination due to the complexity that this subject would involve.  My internship under a great mentor, the director and curator of The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum involved such a wide range of activities that my abilities of succinctness will be stretched to the limit (not only that, but my memory, also) to cover everything I did in my short, but productive time there.

Wolseley Barracks - London ON

I did not actually realise it at the time of my arrival in London ON, but Wolseley Barracks was practically across the road from my first childhood home on Gammage Street and I could easily walk over there on my lunch breaks.  I was given my own office, adjacent to the curator's.  My office included the computer, the only air conditioner in the offices, and the only printer and scanner.

The desk in my office with at least 3 separate projects visible (I could have included a photo of me sitting at the desk, but I think we've all seen enough of me here already.)

Included in my ongoing projects was creating an individual exhibit file for each exhibit space in the gallery.  To do this, I photographed each exhibit, created a catalogue list of each artefact, made up a number with the matte cutter to put in each case, and made up a folder for each one to go in the archives.  Some of the photos I took and photoshopped are used on the museum's website to this day.

The archival folders and the matte cutter

Another project I was given right from the start was to go through a pile of old biographical files that were recently sent down from the Dept. of National Defence.  I was to create an individual folder for each person and assign it an archival file number and enter each one into the computer database.
At the beginning of the internernship I was allowed to create my own display that would be a part of a larger RCR temporary external exhibit at the converted pump house building at a park downtown.  Since I was already assigned a large collection to accession, that of the CO of the barracks during WWII who was also in WWI as a soldier, I took his helmet and field cap and centred the exhibit around those two artefacts.  This exhibit can be seen in a previous entry on this site.

Along with various other side projects and tasks I was asked to perform, my other main project was writing and external and internal survey for the museum.  Along with composing the surveys I had the internal ones set up on a table in the museum lobby with instructions for the attendants for receiving them and for the external surveys, I personally visited shopping malls and walked the streets of downtown London asking people to fill them out.  Finally, when I had the required sample number of surveys filled a wrote up an analysis of the results and bound them in a fancy coil booklet.

A couple of these side projects I was asked to carry out was finding a place to have a security camera repaired and get an estimate.  For this, I had to take the camera there in person, finding the business in a city that was still a bit strange to me.  I was also asked to find someone who would be able to convert a commemorative RCR LP record to mp3 format.  Calling all the local radio stations, I was able to find someone in a nearby town that would do it for us.  On a memorably hot southern Ontario day with my mapquest printout I drove out there and sat in this man's computer room office in his house while he labouriously ran through the record on his computer.

What I saw when I looked up

After my internship ended, I continued to work there as a volunteer and assisted in a Remembrance Day external exhibit.  One of the things I'll remember the most is special things apart from my actual work.  For example, the museum board chairman, a retired general told me that he remembered my grandfather, who I must brag was commandant of the barracks at one point, but also said he was a great man.  I could only agree, but was beyond proud when he said this to me.  I'll also always remember how kindly the museum curator treated me, inviting me to his house a few times for dinner and watching movies.  Even more, he took me out to lunch when we were out around the city for various reasons.  I really was proud to carry out every task and project and assist the curator wherever I could.  I believed this work and with the mentorship of the curator of The RCR Museum, I would be well set on the road to my museum career.