Day 17: Windows on the War and BBQing

On Sunday I went to the Windows on the War exhibit at the Art Institute that showed posters designed by Moscow-based artists right after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union during World War II. I'd just learned about poster design and even designed a poster of my own for Graphic Design 1 at the Art Institute, so I was especially interested in seeing this exhibit. To my surprise, non-flash photography was permitted throughout the entire exhibit (excluding a handful of pieces) so I snapped quite a few photos for future reference and documentation.

This era was all about opposition between different groups so I was especially interested in posters that had split compositions. Here are some below and more after the jump.

Benefits of communism on the left, evils of capitalism on the right.

I started this exhibit inspecting every piece closely, reading every plaque and every numbered marker. After seeing the third "10" marker, I started wondering how much more there was.

Long live our native, invincible Red Army!

I wasn't in the most intellectual of moods when I arrived so it was a little tough for me to absorb information. Also, this exhibit required a bit more energy if you didn't speak Russian because almost everything was translated on the plaque. That meant that in addition to reading about each piece, there was a lot of looking back and forth between the image and the plaque in order to fully absorb the meaning of the poster.

Capitalism versus communism.

On top of the translation issue, it was rare to see a poster in this exhibit that had a singular idea that was communicated without words. There were almost always layers of meaning once you took into account the central subject along with the several supporting elements on each poster.

Communism versus Fascism. Note the fascist claws. 

The guides throughout the exhibit contributed to the overall mental-saturation. The posters didn't exactly follow a straight timeline; descriptions would often jump forwards and backwards in time or mention art movements and styles that you wouldn't see until you were further along into the exhibit.

Fascism versus communism again!

I started getting tired around the third "10" marker (some numbers had more than one descriptive passage) and then became completely saturated at around 15 or 16 and decided to exit the exhibit. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to come back later since I can get into the Art Institute for free and probably did most of the exhibit anyway.

I was wrong. The numbers went up to 36 or 37 and the exhibit was mostly empty towards the end even though the beginning was crowded. Many other visitors probably got exhausted way before the halfway point and abandoned the exhibit just as I had. I wonder if there's a way to artfully warn people that the exhibit they're about to enter is crazy long.

The posters were really cool and my favorite part was probably the description of how stenciling worked for mass-producing them. I don't know if I'd recommend this exhibit because the information is just so disjointed and my enjoyment of exhibits really hinges on a sense of continuity or a clear narrative. If you're interested in poster design, I'd say you should go but just know that this is an exhibit that's better for browsing than close reading.

After that thoroughly exhausting museum visit, I helped put together a casual barbecue that consisted of delicious sausages from the Butcher and Larder, grilled vegetables, a couple of side salads made by yours truly, and delicious strawberry shortcakes.

The spread on the grill.

The two side salads I made were potato salad and a pseudo-tabbouleh. Instead of using mayonnaise for the potato salad, I used a mustard vinaigrette made from the French grain mustard with cognac that I purchased from the Mustard Festival and added chopped cornichons, capers, and basil. The pseudo-tabbouleh consisted of tons of minced parsley, cubes of feta cheese, diced cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, and a lemon juice/olive oil vinaigrette.

Shelley made awesome strawberry shortcakes to finish off the barbecue strong. She used buttercream frosting instead of whipped cream. Yum.

Strawberry shortcake is my favorite dessert.

Sometimes it's nice to have a simple barbecue. I'm used to setting up these huge productions where I'm making marinades, procuring special cuts of meat or seafood and planning complicated sides -- it's way more relaxing to take the simple route and let other people contribute. I'm a fan. Also, there's more time to play with Shelley's dog, Jezebel.

Jezebel