I got through about eight pages of Book of Glads Volume II this weekend. Parenthetically, writing that sentence, I just realized I haven’t even begun thinking of a name for it. It was great fun. A blast. Truly.
Both days I was seated in Dilworth Park, which is the pavilion on the west side of City Hall, and where I wrote a lot of Volume I, The Alpha Upgrade of HD Heathers. On Saturday, I after a couple of hours, I headed down Market Street to the PAFA. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine is museum and art school here, founded in 1805. It’s the first and oldest in the states.
My wife and I have memberships to both the PAFA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I go to the PAFA more because it’s about 25 minutes closer on foot. I saw some cool pieces, and a part of a scene popped in my head as I passed a video exhibit occupying one room, so I sat for a while and wrote there. I don’t have a photo of the installation, but it was Saya Wolfalk’s We Emerge at the Sunset of Your Ideology.
PAFA’s permanent collection is a history of local art and artists. While I was looking at this painting of a row home (I swear I thought I took a picture of the name and artist, but I see now that it didn’t happen), it occurred to me that I ought to leverage some of these works in the Book of Glads series. Across the Mega-City System, most art is held privately, or displayed in small galleries. The great museums of the past are gone. I’ll make a point to ensure characters observe or are in possession of works created 200 years ago by some of today’s real 21st century artists.
