Pink Flamingos, Blue Crabs and a Theory aka the Overspilling of Kitsch in Baltimore - Guest Post

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So.   The Cookin’ Canuck is on vacation.  And he has asked me and others to contribute something “design-related… to (our) part of the world.”  Get Arne -- he’s off to Spain on some glorious some such and he wants me to write about my little part of . . . here.  Maryland.  OK.  Baltimore to be exact and it does have its own unique sense of, well, Style.

And OK, Style and Design -- not really the same thing, but I am gonna write it; and I have been meaning to do so for awhile.  I mean – the age-old adage -- How do you know where you are going if you don’t know where you’ve been?  . . . Or something.   It’s rhetorical, and here we go.

. . . Baltimore, Maryland is “home” to the Chesapeake Bay, blue crabs and Natty Boh (that’s National Bohemian . . . beer).  It is known as the Land of Pleasant Living, as Charm City, and now for horrible, horrible, loosing baseball.  

Some of you may know it . . . Hairspray -- director John Waters’ portrayal of “mid-century” Bawlmer . . . Hon!  (That’s short for “honey” and it works best with our regional accent.  For background: http://www.honfest.net/).   And he, Waters, about nailed it.  For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, or the stage adaptation, I’ll put it like this -- Baltimore is Camp . . . to the Extreme.

. . . And stuck in some strange vortex . . . irrevocably hip, yet, as I have read it written, with an inferiority complex.  Like Anytown, USA, but on steroids . . . or a Metropolis on downers.  I really haven’t made up my mind.  (I don’t think many have.)  I do think though that we as Baltimoreans . . . revel in it, no matter what it is – one part redneck at a cocktail party and another part billionaire at a fish fry.  Idk.

. . . pretty text book or travel guide or just way out there.  OK.  But let’s try this – What Baltimore’s Style really comes down to is . . . not the Camp or the Kitsch, but rather -- its own ability to invent and embrace a wholly unique “design” consciousness . . . diy and folky.  Art form(s) created at the exact point where the old south meets an old north.  One part out of necessity and one part just being, well . . . here.

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Now, watch me work -- the housing stock (as we are housy-type people here):   Baltimore’s quintessential architectural form -- rows upon rows of rowhomes.  And as a builder/developer friend once told me, “There is only so much you can do with a railroad car stacked on top a railroad car – you know – a box.”  It’s about usable, (yes, my tongue is in my cheek) useful space.

It’s not uncommon to see full art installations on a small-patch-of-grass, front lawn.  Here in Baltimore, it seems, when our box of a home can not contain its artful stuffings, we/they spill out into the only place they can . . . into the urban outdoors.

And well, Hon . . . check it out:

Ex. A.  Murals
A great Article including Baltimore’s network of murals:  http://welcometobaltimorehon.com/mural -- Anywhere.  Philly.  Oh Yeah!  No camp, classic art form.  OK.

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Ex. B.  Stained Glass Transoms
Baltimore’s stained glass transoms . . . (My own 1920s original lifted from our backyard in what I now call “the Stained Glass Incident.”)  This lovely artist Robin has already done a lot of my legwork; she is the source of the image above.  Here -- a multitude of examples of their most common form – with house numbers:

For those that are down, here’s two more links for your fix:  The Google search --  “stained glass transoms Baltimore” and some fab, more contemporary work:  Here >> http://bit.ly/oI2kQK & here >> http://baltimorecircletransom.blogspot.com/.

-- Brooklyn, DC, San Francisco. Idk.  Not Impressed. What?!  Not enough camp?  OK.

Ex. C.  “The Miracle on 34^th Street”

34th Street Christmas Lights in Hampden from Seinberg on Vimeo.

For additional:  http://www.christmasstreet.com/ & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVpv2_XcXqY

OK.  Seasonal (though it is true you can find Christmas twinklies anytime of year).  And did you see that Santa Elvis!? OK.

Ex. D.  Painted Screens

Often featuring a utopian country setting or a prominent local landmark, this art form can be found throughout the city.  As a child I remember feeling like you couldn’t pass a house without one.  There are installations still being performed today.

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For additional:  The work of screen painter Anna Pasqualucci, here > http://paintedscreens.synthasite.com/.

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To me it’s no surprise the American Visionary Art Museum http://www.avam.org/ has found a home here.  Known for its art car events and the annual East Coast Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race, it has been designated by Congress as America's national museum for self-taught art. Current exhibits include:  All Things Round: Galaxies, Eyeballs & Karma http://www.avam.org/news-and-events/events/round-preview.shtml and the Bling Universe http://www.avam.org/bling-universe/index.shtml.

And OK, I know-- it is may not seem quite as kitschy as I may have suggested earlier, and some of the examples presented may not represent wholly how we-general do style or design.   You can, in fact, find almost any other American house type and also almost every other form of cultural activity here.  But . . . I still don’t know if we are good at putting that, it, into words . . . like some weird internal conversation -- “Yes we do.”  “Oh no, we dind’t!”  “Oh! Yes. Yes! We Did!” << And that is Baltimore.

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Thanks for reading.  Thanks to Arne and have a safe, happy and fabulous vacation my friend.

For further reading (maybe):  The Hon Factory http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601205.html

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jb is a consultant and one part of the blogging team at buildingmoxie.com.  Born and breed Baltimore, MD . . . he has also lived in York, PA; Leicester, England; Winter Park, CO; & Santa Cruz, CA.  He likes using ellipses and has traveled to other places … some.