Of Place at the Carnegie: An "antidote" to the tyranny of our white bread Bicentennial.

Yesterday I vented at Facebook.

Imagine that.

If I believed in some variety of god, I'd thank her that the NA Bicentennial year is nearly finished. So much hard work, and such a pristine tea and crumpets celebration, given NA's indisputable lineage as dirty, corrupted and imperfect river town; it strikes me as an antibiotic that kills good and bad microbes alike, with scrubbed beige Formica emerging from the other side of the assembly line. I hope that when Laura Buckingham starts baking, we get some damned pumpernickel, because after 2013, I never want to see a slice of Caesar-brand white bread ever again. Rant over.

Laura says she does pumpernickel, and Bluegill reminds us of a forthcoming event at the Carnegie Center, one that clearly shows how much more meaningful this anniversary year could have been had cooperation and participation been the goal rather than exclusion.

And I'm not saying this just because David Modica took pictures of me.

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October 18, 2013 – January 11, 2014
New Albany Bicentennial Exhibition: Of Place
Tiffany Carbonneau and David Modica
Opening Reception: Friday, October 18, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

As New Albany's bicentennial year comes to an end, our attention turns to New Albany today and the future of our community. The exhibition Of Place presents artworks by Tiffany Carbonneau and David Modica, two contemporary New Albany artists that speak to their experiences of living here today. Their different perspectives influence their points-of-view on the city — one is a longtime resident, the other recently moved here. They both work in relatively new art media — one with photography, the other with video. The combination of their approaches also connects to a theme that finds its way into most discussions about place and culture today, namely the relationship between local and global experiences and societal issues. David Modica's photographs explore the stories, characters and places that a resident gets to know intimately when he interacts with the community. He gives us a glimpse of multiple perspectives and experiences that individuals have of our community on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the videos of Tiffany Carbonneau place New Albany in a global context as a mid-sized city located on a major waterway. Her documentations of similar places around the world strive to show us just how similar our local experience is to that of others around the world.