Yet another resumption of a beloved public event, Art in Bloom is blessedly back at our local cozy little art venue on the banks of the Muddy River. It gives all the local garden clubs a chance to do what they do best, in an attempt to express in floral splendor what various works evoke in the minds of their memberships. Or some of their membership. One can imagine there might be spirited discussion in some clubs over how to go about this, with politics & personalities playing a role that one can only imagine.
If Netflix is desperate for yet another new miniseries it has possibilities, and would provide a grand opportunity to pit venerable old-generation actresses against popular new ones. And I’ve already got a great title : Say it with Flowers. In real life one can only hope it all happens in a benign fashion with no hurt feelings, but if drama is your goal all gloves are off, and the results might be spectacular if the scriptwriter knows their stuff. Or maybe a better portrayal could be done in a Christopher Guest kind of movie in the manner of Best in Show, the greatest comedy of all time.
But to return to the recent Museum of Fine Arts reality-style show, the results can be straightforward or edgy, pedestrian or brilliant, which as always lies only in the mind of the beholder, as is the answer to the question of whether the attempt to “interpret” the art work in question “nails it”. It all boils down to waddaya think? The same goes for any photo essay on this subject, so the attempt you see here might fascinate, confuse, or bore you. As they tell you at the restaurant: “Enjoy!” and leave it at that.
Of course the only way to do it all justice is to show up in person in early May for the single weekend the event runs every year. This works best if one lives in Boston and is already an MFA member who only lives a short bike ride away; otherwise it might require a fair amount of logistics and money. If you do show up, I’d recommend getting there early to avoid the crowds, especially if you want to create images that don’t include human faces and other body parts. If you’re one of those who don’t need no stinkin’ images, all the better.
It’s a wonderful event any way you look at it and it is possible some art venue near you does something similar. Around here, at least, it remains a pity that the audiences over the years have skewed towards about 90% female, with a good three quarters of that in the older demographic. Even the car- and air-shows I’ve attended had crowds about one-third or more female. Guys can be pathetic sometimes in their narrowness, sez this guy.
