Friday, December 7, 2007

LA trippin', part 2: Culture me!

Lest you get to thinking that we're simple-minded rednecks who only get joy from suped-up cars and beer busts, allow me to correct you. We don't drink.

Seriously, though John and I do actually enjoy attending museums that have things of cultural or historic importance in them. After the beer busts and car shows, that is. This time we finally made it to the Getty with our buddy Dan...who is an artsy guy himself. As such, I think we both enjoyed it a little more than John did.

We went to the Getty Villa, which was mostly ancient statues and artifacts. Since I've always been kind of fascinated by Greek statues and art, I was happy to be there. I sometimes wonder if my appreciation for the Greek stuff stems from the blatant homo-eroticism so much of it contains. Which makes me wonder if I should feel so cultured after all if I'm going there for high-brow smut.
I can't remember, but I think the name of the woman who took this picture for us was Ilean.

Me proving that I really don't know what to do with my hands during a picture.

Yes, that IS what you think it is on the front of this odd statue...why is it there? You tell me.

Is it wrong to think that the guys portrayed in a several thousand year old mosaic are hot?

2 comments:

Kalv1n said...

It's strange, but I remember the building where the getty was much more than I remember the artwork that was there. Maybe it's because we were there around sunset, and it was really quite spectacular. Do you really go to beer busts sober? I can only imagine.

Azarnes said...

The statue with the phallus on the front of a square pillar, topped with the head of a bearded man is called a Herm, and represents the god Hermes. They were boundary markers, and stood in front of every home in Greek cities, and elsewhere. They were considered sacred and lucky, life affirming, as most phallic art was in the Hellenic era. It spoke of arete, excellence, and andreia, manly virtue.