I’m not quite done talking about the trip. I forgot the most important part — the mystery artwork that I swore I would ask the Internet to explain.
Our hotel room featured the following huge print:
What is happening here? There seems to be a table coming through either a window or a mirror, holding something like a helmet or welding mask topped by a cd (or dvd) that is spurting hot magma, as the Earth looks on. Am I wrong?
At the time I thought perhaps our confusion was due to the enormous fancy beverages we’d consumed during our questionable “Mongolian BBQ” dinner. I could’ve fit my head in the glass my mango-whatnot was served in. Well, maybe if slightly chopped and rearranged — certainly if ground, but if you don’t mind that’s not something I’m going to set out to prove. Please just take my word for it along with this camera phone snapshot. (Click to embiggen.)
Today looking at it quite sober, I actually find it more befuddling. Who thought this was a good idea? Someone created this, then some interior design person selected it for their hotel room design proposal, and then someone else — maybe more than one person — approved it. There was probably even a few more folks involved inbetween steps — family/friend encouragement and support. A couple “Wow, this is really inspired!” and “I like what you’ve done here. Good work.” type statements scattered throughout the proceedings. And there was a monetary transaction or two involved. How did this series of events occur? Further, how did this series of events occur in actual real life and not just in my dreams or on some reality show where drunken hotel guests are “punk’d”?
Moreover, can I have another face-sized mango thing? And a career in the hotel art industry? I feel like I could really excell in the world of pastel abstract stillifes. How does one break in to this career?
Forget my young adult fiction novel. I have a portfolio to put together.
This happens all the time. I was at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium (Truly Awesome, but it’s increasingly difficult to find a time without crowds of mouthbreathing cretins) and was forced (if I wished to observe displays and read placards) to listen to numberless parents indoctrinate their offspring with false or misleading or just plain ignorant explanations. Often in full view of a sign which states the opposite. They don’t care. They aren’t interested. Why are they there if not to learn amazingly cool stuff? They are passing the time, and would be just as happy at a WWF event. I don’t believe they draw a distinction between a learning opportunity and just some mindless drivel on TV. Sigh.
Sorry, that was supposed to be a comment about the zoo visit.