Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Giant Clams Invade the Departure Lounge at SFO


Underwater Display: Terminal 1
San Francisco International Airport

Summer - Lots of traveling in the heat and lots of time in airport departure lounges. The San Francisco International Airport has an interesting program of curated exhibitions. Terminal 1's current display concerns the sea -
"Aquarium: Underwater Planet"

The exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Steinhart Aquarium from the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. (All the current exhibits at SFO are listed at sfoarts.org.)

Specimens gathered long ago float in amber colored jars bringing to mind Doc Ricketts' Lab in Monterey or even the mutated human/sea creatures who serve Davy Jones and torment Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest."

I found A O Scott's review of the reviewers-"Avast, Me Critics!"- in the New York Times to be an entertaining take on the role of critics in contemporary American society:

"Are we out of touch with the audience? Why do we go sniffing after art where everyone else is looking for fun, and spoiling everybody’s fun when it doesn’t live up to our notion or art? What gives us the right to yell “bomb” outside a crowded theater? ... Online, everyone is a critic, which is as it should be: professional prerogatives aside, a critic is really just anyone who thinks out loud about something he or she cares about, and gets into arguments with fellow enthusiasts."


Organist at “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest"
El Capitan Theater, Hollywood


Giant Clam: Terminal 1
San Francisco International Airport

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