Against the Day and fictitiousness

[David Morris]

The Chicago Fair was literally a fantasy city, made of paper mache
with Beaux-Arts designs portraying dreams of an Aristocratic past.  It
was a perfect vehicle for displaying a world teetering on the edge of
Modernity.

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

In 1890 Sullivan was one of the ten architects, five from the Eastern
U.S. and five from the Western U.S., chosen to build a major structure
for the "White City", the World's Columbian Exposition, held in
Chicago in 1893. Sullivan's massive Transportation Building and huge
arched "Golden Door" stood out as the only forward-looking design in a
sea of Beaux-Arts historical copies, and the only multicolored facade
in the White City. Sullivan and fair director Daniel Burnham were
vocal about their displeasure with each other. Sullivan was later
(1922) to claim that the fair set the course of American architecture
back "for half a century from its date, if not longer."[6] His was the
only building to receive extensive recognition outside America,
receiving three medals from the Union Centrale des Arts Decoratifs the
following year.

On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 4:18 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
> On bullshit in America: "the Chicago Fair, as the great national celebration [it WAS that] possessed the exact degree of fictitiousness to permit the boys access and agency." p. 36
>
> Pretty clear merging of irreal adventure fiction with irreal American self-celebration.
>
> Leaving groundedness as the counterweight: Reality as it can be seen. The edges of the Exhibition where the marginal are, etc. The crowd on page 49....tired women 'bearing the insults of the day"....etc.
>
> Ray Ipsow, whose name means 'the thing itself' in Latin is another grounding
> figure against the guy he assists, ole Prof Vanderjuice.
> Ray who says straightforwardly to Vibe: anyone who looks around would see
> that socialism is right. "As anyone not insulated by
> wealth from the cares of the day is obliged to be, sir." p.32
>