Hey guys, don't hate me...but I changed the article I want to discuss. (It's a lot shorter though :))
It's "A Jungle of Bamboo is Growing Atop the Met" By Carol Vogel in the New York Times Art & Design Section
I had a hard time picking a good profile about a person, so I wanted to find a location profile to add to tomorrow's discussion.
I picked this article because right off the bat, the writer describes the bamboo structure and its building process in a very personal way--people listening to music known to most. Then it switches, saying that the workers look like tightrope walkers, monkeys, etc--bringing in the imagery of a circus-like frenzy. I like how Vogel focuses on the feel and the look of the structure before really getting into the details of who, what, where, when, why. I think this is a very effective opening for the piece. I feel as though describing a location is much harder to make entertaining than describing a person and their actions. So I picked this piece because it opens with a strong description to a location profile.
If you still want to read the other article:
"Food Fighter" By Nick Paumgarten
The article is on John Mackey, the co-founder and chief executive of Whole Foods Markets. I chose this article because it is a profile that not only focuses on a person but also a location. Throughout the article, both Mackey and the Whole Foods Markets themselves are described, expanding on a sort of "father-child" relationship. Mackey treats Whole Foods as his child, his mind, his life--so it is only fitting that the article embodies profiles of both himself and his creation.
In terms of Mackey, Paumgarten describes his character and his passion for his chain of stores in a devoted and fatherly manner. As he describes Mackey, he also does a great job of describing the Whole Foods chain and its effect on the public. The relationship between Mackey and Whole Foods is developed as well as the relationship between Whole Foods and the public. Paumgarten delves deeper into Whole Foods and how communities have come to accept, reject, judge, and identify with it.
I just really enjoyed how Paumgarten showed Mackey's success and Whole Food's success developing together--along with public involvement as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What interesting place profiles! I have never heard of something as unique as the Bambu project at the Met. It seems like a cool exhibit, although I was a bit lost on the meaning behind it until it was explained in the article: "Mike Starn compared the construction itself to 'the arteries in your body or in the city subway system,' and added, We’re also talking about Western civilization, the interconnected dependency we all have on each other but which is changing all the time.'" The author also did a good job of profiling those working on the project, and how the construction was going along
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really interesting example of a profile because it was a place, but it was also an artwork and a community of people and an idea and a growing, changing organism. I thought Vogel could have done a better job of highlighting the meaning of the piece - at first it seems like just a curiosity with no real purpose. But I got it by the end.
ReplyDeletei agree that the meaning is kind of cool, but i wish it ended up more appealing to the eye. He describes as chaotic looking before he gave the meaning of it representing the interconnectedness, and i think it would have been really cool, if the design could be complex but still beautiful and intricate. who knows they it could look pretty cool if i saw it in person. and i would LOVE to climb on it!
ReplyDelete