Deborah Herndon || How Culture Cues Connections
What are the cultural cues that cause us to connect with certain images or embrace certain thoughts? These metallic photographs intend to draw you into their third dimension and tell a story that connects to a memory or values you hold constant.
For example, people choose small diners to sit on barstools only an elbow away from the next patron to exchange local news or expectations of tomorrow's weather. It is the intimacy with friends and strangers that diner folks seek. Sharing a drink of water at an ancient stone fountain whereall can access a trough to wash hands shows a bond of basic needs. Displaying many clay pots of beautiful flowers and brightly colored entries are a street side greeting to say "Welcome - come visit!"
A farmer at market can tell you a recipe that enhances the vegetables you prefer or which are in season. A bovine family at pasture reassures us of the source of our milk and cheeses. Small rowboats carry us away to find our dinner, but also bring us back to harbor and maybe share a fish story with friends.
Secret tunnels built through buildings and side streets served bankers and silk merchants in
ancient commerce and Resistance fighters 70 years ago. Bridges over the River Seine in Paris display not so secret declarations between lovers with locks fastened to the bridge railing. Upon closer examination, a simple pine defined by Japanese design reflects the beauty of our connections to trees, water and geology in its community garden.
These local institutions and customs reflect our community - a critical tenet of our humanity.