I subscribe to the New Yorker Magazine. I am able to get it delivered via the German postal system to my house every week, just like I have my copy of The Economist delivered. I never knew they had a European distribution system but they do. It’s worth every Euro I pay for it.
So I guess that makes me an elitist – and I am fine with that.
Last month in their 20 August issue they had a particularly fascinating cover done by artist R. Kikuo Johnson. It’s a powerful bit of art, that without using a word, captures well the division in the United States now.
See it for yourself:
I think its a powerful image that conveys a lot of ideas in one simple frame. On the left is the red Ford truck, still sturdy but showing signs of decay, as noted by the rust on the tailgate. I see it as an analogy for the America that was, once great, still sturdy, but showing visible signs of decay from what it once was. On the right is a modern blue station wagon, that appears to be a foreign design, similar to a Volvo or Toyota. The man, wearing his dorky hat and sandals, has an oriental look to his face – faintly foreign. His face casts a concerned glance in the direction of the shotgun in the truck. The station wagon is an analogy for the world of today, interconnected, modern, and slightly unfamiliar.
The children are putting on life jackets, but the canoe has not even been brought down yet. If you look closely at the mother and the children’s feet, they are wearing Crocs. It provides an air of affluence that does not seem to be shared. Even the choice of recreation is different, as witnessed by the canoe.
The owner of the Ford truck is unseen, but his truck tells you all you need to know about him or her. The bumper stickers, the trailer hitch, and of course, the shotgun. Locked on the rack, but menacing to the other family in a subdued kind of way.
The cars are set against a countryside that appears beautiful with room for both sets of folks. Yet subtly, without saying a word, it expresses the depth of the divide between them. And it expresses a contrast between the country that was and some people yearn for – and the modern interconnected world of today and tomorrow.
I find this type of artwork fascinating, and I am not an art lover. But I think this well done. Kudo’s to the New Yorker for publishing it.
By the way, inside the magazine is a fascinating article about the test pilots for Virgin Galactic’s space vehicle. That too is worth your time to read.