Alice Walton - Everyday Low Art at High Price

Sam's daughter developped a taste for the kind of XIXth and XXth century American art the average Wal-Mart shopper loves to purchase on Hallmark Cards, chocolate boxes, jigsaw puzzles, embroidery designs... only she goes for the real thing, spending tens of millions of bucks on each "masterpiece".

Alice Walton knows about marketing. She can build the most comprehensive collection ever : no one will compete with her on that one, and all the has to do is to siphon oceans of uglities from big East- and West-coast basements, and to put a few top shelf items up front in order to lure consumers. This massive collection of cheap images will be exposed at the heart of Walmartland, in the billionaire's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art*. Grand opening : Fall / Winter 2009.

I can't wait to visit it. I always dreamed of passing by the Rogers Daisy Airgun Museum and Bentonville, AR would be only a short detour from Rogers, AR... Much closer than Fort Smith, AR and its famous Fort Smith Trolley Museum. Unless... Come to think of it, I could go all the way from Crystal Bridges to Eurora, AR : you don't want to miss the Rubye and Henry Connerly Museum ! I would then stop at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum** (Little Rock, AR), and get some refreshment at the Pine Bluff, AR Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame / Band Museum where, according to the Director, "there is a fully-operational 1950’s soda fountain"... Boy, what a ride ! Better kick than Route 66...

NB : to my beloved visitors from Arkansas : nothing personal. I'm realy glad to see heart collections bloom at the art of the country... even if they compete more easily with Guggenheim for the shells than with Chicago for the contents. And I can find even more XIXth century academic monstruosities and ugly colorful sunsets in Orsay Museum.


* crystalbridges.org
** clintonlibrary.gov - 1200 President Clinton Avenue Little Rock, Arkansas 72201(501) 374-4242. Hours Monday–Saturday 9:00 a.m.–5:00p.m.Sunday1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Admission : Adults $7.00 Senior citizens (62+) $5.00 College Students (With ID) $5.00 Retired Military (With ID) $5.00 Children (6-17) $3.00 Children under 6 Free. All Active Duty, Military Reservists, and National Guard Free. All White House interns Free.

Red blogule to Wal-Mart's H. Lee Scott Jr. - "Can I hate you ?"

I suggest a new 10-foot rule to Wal-Mart's employees : if CEO Lee is less than 10 feet away, you're compelled to ask "can I hate you ?"

Judging by "Lee's Garage" worst of as selected by yesterday's NYT ("On Private Web Site, Wal-Mart Chief Talks Tough"), you can easily tell how this man made it to the top : his blog just reeks of the retailer's awful corporate culture ; XIXth century capitalism at its ugliest.

Everyday low, period.

Red blogule to Karen Hughes

If you managed not to punch your TV set each time this most iritating Bush passionaria would comment on her Texas pal's crushing victories in last year's prez debates, get ready for it : Karen Hughes's now in charge of sweetening US' world image. Within the US State Department, she will manage "rapid response" teams to counter all foreign liars, the "liars" being people who lie about the Bush Administration's policies (Hughes even dared taking the so called "flushed Quran scandal" as the ultimate example), people who defend Geneva Conventions or the freedom of journalism, people who are "against us", people who voted Kerry, people who said the Iraqi invasion was poorly planned, people who demonstrate their un-Americanness because they lost their kid at the market the other day (the Baghdad market, not your average Iraqi-village-sized Wal-Mart)...
So the best response to your own failing policies is not to change them but to change the background music with which you advertize them. The best answer to fair foreign criticism is to strenghten US unfair propaganda. The best way to cure Amerika's sickness is to send a spin doctor. The best way to make up for your own lies is to put more make up on them and lie even further, be it at the cost of turning unpopular USA into masquerade-ugly unpopular USA.
According to the NYT, Hughes isn't even dealing with the 80% who are already questioning US policies but focusing on the last 20% who are not among the "insurgents" yet. But Karen, how many will sing along with you : "I see your face, I'm a believer" ?