Cold war !

I don't listen to women. Its not something I do. I am not moaning, or bragging here. Its silly of me not too. It causes problems.

I don't listen to women though, or if I do, I don't act on what I am told for months.

Which is very stupid

Because a very smart, and pretty woman, who lives in Paris. Tells me to go to exhibitions. I should, but I don't

 

Well, today, I did.

I went to see Cold war Modern.

Sadly, there was no photography allowed. So I bought postcards.

The exhibition, was a display of art, and design, from both the soviet Union, and the USA, and their allies. Or as the term would have been used satellites, from the period between 1945-1970

So, the first exhibit was a mock up of sputnik, the first man made satelite. We then saw, the start of the cold war. The war time alliance, against Hitler, fell apart.

Soviet realism, was depicted, I recall one poster of a Korean, facing a firing squad. Which stood out Whilst American architects, drew plans for underground bunkers, with all the comforts of home

IBM, rolled up its sleeves, and joined the cold war effort. It's contributions, included the Sage, and Brain computer, shown in a display video

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Towers

Used to detect enemy planes. Featured in the IBM video

 

The USSR, and USA, as mirror images of each other.

(Old joke about the Russians, being sponsored by CCCP)

 

There was a model, of a sculpture that was never finished. The tomb of the unknown political prisoner. Human figures, dominated by stark metal, resembling a watch tower, or an aerial. It was supposed to dominate the Berlin skyline.

As, the thaw developed, in the cold war, with the rise of the Khrushchev administration.

There were some wonderful works of design, in glass, particularly by Czechoslovak artists. One of Bright coloured zoomorphic delights. A plastic chair

The US, and USSR exchanged exhibitions, in the 1950s. We saw the film, from the American exhibition to the USSR.

One note, they referred to a supermarket, or a mall, as a planned shopping center, doesn't roll of the tongue. The commuters were all beautifully dressed. No, beach shoes or sneakers

They exhibited on loops..

Dr Strangelove

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/

Later on, they would show pieces, from another masterpiece

2001: A Space Odyssey

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/

The stars were for a moment, in our hands

The development of television, was demonstrated. Sony can claim the credit, for the first portable TV player. Which is indicative in itself. The Japanese, were free to use the technology to make consumer goods.

The names start to become familiar, Kubrick, Buckminster Fuller. (Who had idea's for sealing New York in a protective bubble)Even Pierre Cardin, who designed clothing

 

A vision of a future NYC

Then I saw the space suits. The astronauts were very short

While, some were reaching out, others broke free. The Cuban revolution, was demonstrated by, soviet propaganda films, of Batista's Havana.

1968, in Paris, was on display too, in a short by Godard. (A very telegenic cast)

As I left, there was one last item that caught my mind. A bubble, of plastic, which housed a hammock, a futuristic home from home. What struck me, was that here was a place, which was see through. The roots, of the surveillance, and exhibitionist society were here.

Whilst a lot of people see this time, as troubled, even traumatic, I see it as triumphant. The Universe, was for a second, in our grasp, and fear we have turned away, the line of succession was broken, we lost the King, and now have only the dream of Camelot

* * * * *

I saw a beautiful nude sculpture of Eve, as I was walking to the gallery

They had a lot of cool stuff, in the gift shop. Draw your own commie, a lot of stuff, I had seen, in the spy museum in DC.

Pretty Russian, sales clerk, sold me my ticket, take that Karl Marx!