Started: Plymouth, MI
Ended: Plymouth, MI
Total Distance: Driving: 91.6 miles, Running: 1 mile
Today saw two excursions, one to the Detroit Institute of Arts, one to Zingerman’s Roadhouse (for the record, Mac and Cheese with a Kale and Pinenut salad. Barista beer from Wolverine State Brewing Company) in Ann Arbor, both involved R and I traveling with my parents.
So the DIA is my favorite art museum (despite at this point having visited the Art Institute in Chicago more). I have had a miniature The Thinker[1] on my desk since my childhood. Though the DIA has a lot of great and a lot of famous pieces (one of which, Van Gogh’s self portrait, was the site of an embarrassing scene. I got to close to it and set off a proximity alarm that very calmly said, “Step away; you are too close to the painting.” I was then further scolded by the museum security about my thermos of coffee that I wasn’t supposed to have…), the most important piece in the museum is Detroit Industry by Diego Rivera. This is a series of murals that cover an entire courtyard recognizing, wouldn’t you know, Detroit Industry. The murals start off benign enough[2] with one side recognizing the construction of the V8 engine, the other the chassis, both at the Rouge plants. Then the front wall shows the duality of industry: the left side has the working man, the city of Detroit, a dove, and the airplane whereas the right side has a Henry Ford/Thomas Edison hybrid, rubber plantations in South America, a hawk attacking doves (subtle, Diego), and distraught pilot of a war plane. Rivera of course then goes way off the rails on the other wall… I don’t know what’s going on there.
Of course, the thing that stopped me, for some odd reason, was the drinking fountain. This was designed as part of the courtyard itself but at this point was cordoned off. Originally designed with a practical purpose, the drinking fountain now is preserved along with the rest of the art. And to a certain extent, this is perfectly understandable. Beautifully designed and part of the Rivera Courtyard, no one would want to see the fountain damaged by use. At the same time, isn’t it a little crazy? It’s a drinking fountain. At one point this whole courtyard was designed to be beautiful and enjoyed and now it is simply meant to be beautiful and observed. When we take away the intention of a thing from the thing, does it still hold its thingness?
The next bit of this blog is a short ode to Zingerman’s. R asked me why I love that restaurant so much and I couldn’t quite answer. My mom seemed to think that when I went to U of M, I signed a contract to unconditionally love all things Ann Arbory. I think I just admire the model of a restaurant (slash food empire) that embraces whole foods, slow meals, local cuisine, and fanciness. They don’t offer cheddar on their burgers, they have a mild or a sharp cheddar. Their ice creams come from their creamery. They also actively promote their food (I had a book on cooking from Zingerman’s that I got from the library that I cherished…) And I guess that I appreciate that they’ve been doing this forever. Also, I just really like the food.
[1] Through my research I’ve discovered that there are indeed 28 of these—my original guess was at 4—around the world. Detroit’s is apparently four days younger than the one in Louisville and dates back to 1903.
[2] All of this, by the way, is according to one of the museum guides.