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04:21:2002 Entry: "There I go again...usurping authority and security measures..."
There I go again...usurping authority and security measures...
The painting that won best of show is pictured at left.
See a larger detail here. The picture below it is of me to show you a size perspective...it's one of my smaller works. The lighting in this gallery was horrible...fluorescent lights...which is why my color looks odd (I tried color correction in Photoshop, but to not much avail. Because my paintings utilize a lot of metal and iridescence that cannot be captured with a still shot, it's really hard to really "see" the work with this digital representation. These photos were taken Tuesday night. We also shot some with my 35mm camera, but decided to come back last night to shoot some more, this time using a tripod.
We were standing there, minding our own business, shooting my painting, when these dumpling-shaped rent-a-cop security guys came up behind us. I was unaware of their presence as they were behind me; Stan, who was doing the actual shooting, saw them, but ignored them. Then they started to speak. I forgot what they initially said, but I figured they would want to see my ID to make sure that I was the artist. Naturally, I'm thinking of practical things like copyright infringement. 
The "head cop" looked like an older version of Fletch from Repo Man...he had greyer hair, perhaps a toupee, and a "molesterstache". He was accompanied by a foreheadless cretin that stared me up and down, leeringly, his butt-boy, his silent partner. The younger one didn't speak, he just stood there and stared at me, not at Stan, not into my eyes, but at my body. Obviously, he didn't pass cop school so he became a security guard assistant.
"This is my picture, I'm the artist. Would you like to see my ID?" I reach for my purse.
He shook his head. "You're not allowed to take any pictures inside the hospital at all," the older one said.
"I'm just shooting my picture, that's all. I don't have a slide of it."
"Well there are procedures for doing this, and Sarah Grimes is in charge of the gallery, and all things have to be cleared by her. Did you speak to her?"
"Yes I did." I had spoken to Sarah, she had called me last week and said someone might be interested in buying my painting, although I hadn't spoken to her specifically about shooting my picture. I didn't know I had to.
"Did she give you permission?" I couldn't believe I was getting this runaround for shooting my own freakin' painting! It's not like I was shooting pictures of the hospital itself, or patients, or their equipment, or the secret experiments they're doing with pig-men.
"I spoke to Mary Ann Fahl who is the chair of Artful Women, and I told her I hadn't taken a slide of my painting yet, and she told me I'd better hurry down here and do that as people have expressed interest in buying it."
"What was that name? Mary... Ann? Falk?"
"Fahl. Mary Ann Fahl."
"I'll have to go check with my supervisor..." he headed off with piggy-boy behind him (it's at least nice that they employ their secret experiments).
Stan and I stood there. I was seething, but Stan calmly finished shooting the roll of film. "I wonder if they're really going to check with a supervisor or if they're heading off to the donut bar?" he wondered. He folded up the tripod and started to leave. "Oh, look, they're coming back."
I looked behind me and the two apparently were heading back in our direction, but turned to go into a locked room. Stan and I left the hospital grounds.
I just hate these types who are put in charge and obviously cannot distinguish between a benign incident of an artist shooting a picture of her own work, minding her own business, and someone who's using a camera for nefarious purposes. And it was like they were so feeble in taking care of the problem, too. If they really thought we were a security problem or something, why did they wander off together instead of perhaps leaving butt-boy to keep an eye on Stan and I while the Fletch guy went to check it out? (Although I don't know what he could've accomplished at 7pm at night when most the administrative staff has left) Or maybe watch us while we finish shooting JUST MY PAINTING and accompany us out to make sure that we don't start photographing their secret experiments of pig-men? I mean, it was just so feeble. And disturbing. And that little dork that kept staring at me...aaaarrgh! Stan said I should've said to him as he was wandering off behind Fletch as his head was still turned toward me, "Get a good look?" like what Elaine said to Dalrymple in the cleavage episode.
This reminded me too much of my Mexico incident. Hassling the innocent while the guilty are slipping through the cracks.
Stan and I joked that this incident will cause the hospital not to host any more art exhibits. And it's all my fault.
But you know, I am kind of paranoid about it...
13 Comments
That's really great! It has almost a religious look to it, like decorations inside very old churches. Must be hard to sell a piece like that when you've putted so much work into it and the result is that good? Don't you ever get tempted to put it on your own wall instead? I think I would have had it over my bed.
And you're probably tired of hearing this already, but damn, every time I see a picture of you I fall off the chair, you're just so lovely =o)
Posted by Nico @ 03/14/2002 01:59 PM CST
So what else is the painting made of Ann? What gives it the three dimensionality?
It's quite striking by the way.
Posted by Leann @ 03/14/2002 03:00 PM CST
Thank you, Nico! Yes, each time I sell a painting I miss it, but I have so many paintings taking up so much space in our house and on our walls (we have to hang the small ones or the horizontal ones salon-style), that I'm actually really glad to get them out of my house. And I need the money. ;-)
Ironies of ironies is that I probably won't end up selling it after all!
Posted by Ann @ 03/14/2002 03:04 PM CST
Leann, I use acrylic paint as a base, mixed with metal powder, mica powder, and glitter. The tiles are made of polymer clay coated with metal leaf and glitter. The glitter is the spectral kind for the most part. It is not pigmented so it won't fade (as I wouldn't trust the permanency of glitter pigment), but it gives off color by light refraction instead (just don't ask me to explain it scientifically ;-)).
Posted by Ann @ 03/14/2002 03:13 PM CST
It must take very long time to make such a picture? If it's a secret and you don't want to post it in your blog, that's alright, I have a mailbox you know and I won't tell a soul ;o]
I think it's very nice to fill a whole wall with different paintings in different sizes, have seen that in a café and it looked very good.
Posted by Nico @ 03/14/2002 05:31 PM CST
Damn it silly me, C'est Ne Pas Une Blog ;o] I mean post it in your journal of course!
Posted by Nico @ 03/14/2002 05:32 PM CST
Ann, I really like your work. Sorry about your bad experience with the rentacops, that is truly bizarre, but I won't go into the psychological speculation of their need for exerting authority wherever they could... If you ever decide to sell that piece I hope you charge ridiculous amounts of $ for it because it's awesome.
Posted by Jane @ 03/14/2002 08:54 PM CST
wow! that is so cool...i love it! and i must say...gosh you're pretty. You goth chick you...;)
Now about these wanna be rent-o-cop...OMG...i know exactly how you feel! When i worked at the college here down the street from me, they would come into the cafeteria where i worked. They have a cop school there. Well, one day i was describing this particularly funny incedent that my husband witnessed-:::cop in front of husband near a stop light, said cop turns on lights like there is some emergency and peels at top speed thru the red light,into a parking lot and stops,gets out of car....and goes into a DONUT shop::::: lol....yeah, truth is stranger than fiction..anyhoo, this junior cop then gets this smarmy look on his face and proceeds to tell me that...""don't i think that cops, like that guy should be able to do that because of all the hardship and pain that they go thru to be a cop??""
I of course, the lowly non copper that i am, put my hands on my hips and said...uh, NO...they above anyone NEED to adhere to the law, so as to set an example. If cops don't follow the law, what makes we mere human non cops think we should follow the law either then! He disagreed....i then told his supervisor and they had a little discussion in class that week....YAHOOOOO!!! Yeah...what a bunch of assholes,eh??? Sure makes one safer knowing these folks are in charge when i go to the hospital.....
Nice work Ann. it would be wonderful to see more!
Posted by Lori @ 03/14/2002 10:03 PM CST
That's an awesome painting, I also was having a religious icon in mind when I first saw it. I'm not a religious person, but that painting would have looked so great in a church ;).. Those very old wooden churches we have in Norway. I know I wouldn't have separated from a painting like that.
BTW Ann... Yesterday I became the owner of my very first mac :D -
iMac 800 G4 something, you know the round one with a beautiful screen. I've been saving for a mac in a looong time, but now I have it, I really need to buy software for it, and I can't get bundles to switch from the software I bought for pc - so now I'm really gonna get broke. Have to eat nudles every day the rest of this year ;)
It's good to see you, Ann, I really feel I know you, and you look beautiful too - did you know you look Norwegian? :)
Posted by Tove @ 03/15/2002 02:06 AM CST
Beautiful piece of work Ann, and you got to annoy the rent a cops to boot!! Sounds like a fun day all around!! heheeee......
Posted by Maria @ 03/15/2002 07:16 AM CST
Hey Nico, you´re even speaking french- I´m impressed. lol
Ann, I love that painting. Actually it looks a lot like a window made of colorful glass cubes. At least in the first pic. Beautiful!
Posted by Mistress Angelique @ 03/15/2002 08:09 AM CST
Thanks everyone. Yes, it is sort of religious iconish. I'm not religious either, but I like their icons! :-D
Yes, Nico, it does take a long time, especially on the creation of the tiles. But I can do that part and watch educational TV (or stupid TV for that matter) at the same time, so I am sort of killing two birds of one stone. ;-) I've never timed myself though. That would take all the enjoyment out of making art and make it seem like work.
Jane, yes, I know exactly what you mean about the underlying psychological need for the rentacops to do that...flexing certain muscles...
Lori, I love that story! Around here, cops will put on their lights all the time just to go through lights or stop signs, then turn off after they're through the intersection. Now I don't know the rules and regs, but it sure seems like sort of an abuse of power.
Congratulations on the iMac, Tove! I'm sure you'll really enjoy it! I didn't know I look Norwegian...is it the blonde hair? I think I take after my British side as far as the way I look, although I'm mostly slavic (although I don't think I look slavic at all).
Mistress Angelique, I love glass work and always want to get my "plastics" (acrylic paints and polymer clays) to look as glasslike as possible, so your observation is quite insightful!
Posted by Ann @ 03/15/2002 12:16 PM CST
Lovely picture! :)
It's good to know that people take their work seriously, but dang...
- - -
Guard: "Step away from that door, we're locking up now."
Customer: "B-but... I have to go through the door to exit the shop! I wanna go home!"
Guard: "Nope, sorry, we're closed. You have to wait until tomorrow."
- - -
Sorry, that was random ;)
Posted by Whitebeam @ 03/15/2002 03:10 PM CST