Art and I have a tumultuous relationship. While I like visiting museums and I have an appreciation for things hung on walls, my mind usually categorizes it in one of two ways.
1. Oooh, pretty.
2. I don’t get it.
That isn’t to say I don’t enjoy art. I’m just not one of those people who can stand around and have deep conversations about what a piece signifies or what the artist was trying to convey. Sometimes a pretty landscape is just a pretty landscape. So imagine my shock when I found something artsy that not only do I like, but I understand.
It’s an installation called the I-75 Project. The artist, Norm Magnussun has been working on lining 1,775 miles of Interstate-75 with mock historical markers that have a progressive political message. (The artist calls it a message of social conscience. I’d like to think that’s what being progressive is all about.) The goal is to put one marker at each of the 50 rest stops off of I-75. This is a quite an interesting goal considering that I-75 starts in Michigan and then travels through five red states. (Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida)
In my mind this is a great example of social activism. The art is accessible, clever, and it’s more thought provoking than the usual name calling that happens at most protests. At the very least it should be an interesting conversation starter for all of the families taking a summer road trip on I-75.
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