Ignorance Exposed! Film at 11

One of the besetting sins of 1) my know-it-all, ex-quiz-show, trivia-hound personality type 2) the kinds of work environments in which I have indulged is how I manage the deluge of information that is usually floating up to and past our nips in fast-moving rivers. That is to say, I often err on the side of a knowing a little about a lot, when it comes to general topics (not pet obsessions). Easy to paddle around somewhat lazily in the gigantic never-ending flow, especially at a newspaper.

So it can be embarassing to have inevitable huge gaps in one's knowledge pointed out! They almost seem impossible, those gaps, amongst the pressure of the deluge (although of course they're not--and there are tons!), which in turn makes them seem that much more shocking when they surface. How could such big air bubbles exist unpopped?? Shocking...but fun! I'll be honest. Frankly, ignorance is fun. Because learning is fun! I've stopped being embarrassed most of the time when I don't know about some crap, even, frankly, crucial crap--I mean, how can I possibly keep up? Okay, I'm almost always embarrassed by the specificity of my knowledge about current events and the war in Iraq, but that's different. Discovering something wholesale--popping a huge air bubble of ignorance--can be very exciting as well as disturbing! Especially if you like it.

The point is: I never heard of the American painter Charles Sheeler. In my life that could mean that I wrote a paper on him in college and forgot--not to mention I worked at an American museum for eight years and have no excuse, but still--who knew?! I swear I've never heard of him. He's the subject of a major traveling show right now (National Gallery, AIC, etc.). I absolutely fell in love--this is the really fun part--with his work this morning, even 2x3" on my computer monitor. Really exciting. How did I miss one of the founders of Modernism? I had to call my friend Jill to get all excited, which she let me do, bless her tolerant talented heart. How NEATO. (I guess one of the cool parts/flip side of the Info Deluge is that this stuff comes to you. Crosses your desk.)

I guess he's rather 'opper-y (as in, Edward H.--hallo Skip!), but I don't think that's the part twangin my strings exactly. The painting I really liked is American Landscape (1930), top, which is at MOMA, and completely and totally theirs and borrowed only for eddifyin purposes here, not to mention consider it a big ad for the traveling exhibition! The other one above is Steam Turbine (1939) at the Butler. The Wikipedia entry has links to lots of other neat images.