Rut #1: Emily Jacobsen: MOA Visit

The Suburbia exibit was very eye opening to me. I have seen the Brady Bunch and That 70's Show, but I always thought their TVLand/Hollywood interpretations of the 70's were exaggerated. Today I learned the wallpaper really was retro flower patterned, not only the wallpaper, but the carpet and the couches as well! Women's hair was even bigger than "Utah hair" today, and the hippies really did dress and drive VWs. Somehow, I always had thought it was just a stereotype. How grateful we are today that the artist decided to take these shots: both posed and candid. It makes me wonder what we should be taking snapshots of today to ensure that our culture isn't lost. Facebook is sure to store all of this for us, but I feel like we forget to stop and take pictures of the things we categorize as typical and "normal". They will be treasures for future generations.

One of my favorite photos was the shot of the pantry closet. Inside I recognized quite a few brands that are still successful today: Cherios, Jif peanutbutter, Crisco, Hershey's, Campbell's, Dixie, & Kellogs. I need to look into these brands and see what exactly they have done over the years to keep their place in consumer's kitchens.

I also liked this photo of the hippies by their VW bug. In Cutri's 302 class last night we learned how the ideologies surrounding the VW bug had changed from the 50s (Nazi prosperity) -> 60s (counter-culture) ->1998 (revival). I thought it was awesome I saw this picture right after learning about that.

"The Face of the Earth" by Vito Acconci struck me as novel because it was probably one of the very first video blogs done. Probably the first time somebody thought to set up a video camera and journal to it. The first Fred.