Author: Jane V. Lapasaran (Page 3 of 3)

My daily commute to work is a sacred time of reflection, an opportunity for me to walk through urbanized areas before the rest of the world has gotten out of bed. I often find myself, during this time, staring up at the towering apartments and office spaces and I imagine what will occur behind those window panes today: a 9:00am office meeting, a student Zooming into class, a family gathering for breakfast – these small everyday details that seem to get drowned out in the larger shouts of political turmoil, climate change, and social injustices. 

Ferenc Mere shared this interest in everyday life. An incredibly skilled taxidermist in the 19th and 20th centuries, Ferenc Mere was most famous for “Froggyland”, a museum featuring Mere’s 507 stuffed frogs displayed in everyday situations – human situations, that is. Mere spent an entire decade collecting and stuffing Rana esculenta, the common European frog also known as the “edible frog”, but his decision to create exhibits based on human life using these frogs did not come until much later at the start of the 20th century when taxidermy became increasingly popular. These exhibits feature displays ranging from a frog dinner party (complete with frogs smoking cigarettes around the table) to a school group of frogs taking notes behind a desk.

Though Froggyland is based in Split, Croatia, the mobile museum has gained international recognition, boasting more visitors than the nearby “Game of Thrones” museum. Ivan Medvesek, the owner of Froggyland, hopes to get his circus of frog people to the U.S. and says that it is mostly the Americans and British who love Froggyland. Is American emphasis on work and careers the underlying root of our fascination with Froggyland? Mere’s introspective look at human lives seems to suggest this, almost turning our daily routines and habits into a caricature through his frogs. This subliminal messaging is intriguing, but not without its controversy. Many have chastised Froggyland and Mere himself for his display of animal cruelty, others uncomfortable with the use of dead frogs to mirror human life. Despite the reactions, Froggyland is consistent in its ability to leave visitors discussing Mere’s work and reflecting on their own humanity well beyond their visit. For me, Froggyland is a comfort – a way to compartmentalize trivial, everyday habits. In the face of larger, global problems, Froggyland is a strange and unique sanctuary that offers this comfort and space for self-reflection. 

To learn more about Froggyland, visit their website here: https://froggyland.net/

Working on the National Mall means passing many museums everyday. As we enter the month of June and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, the museums and many other businesses alike will begin to post their celebratory rainbow-themed posters, flyers, merchandise, etc. Though this wash of rainbow has come under recent fire in the news, the National Building Museum, only a few blocks off the Mall, has put forth their own large-scale project to celebrate this Pride month: a massive art installation titled Equilateral Network by Lisa Marie Thalhammer. Thalhammer’s work spans the entire lawn of the National Building Museum and was designed to allow visitors to safely distance themselves while viewing the piece.

Thalhammer credits her inspiration for the piece to Pierre L’Enfant, who planned the design of the federal district in D.C. along the Potomac River. L’Enfant’s large, wide roads and clean angles dividing the city are evident in Thalhammer’s piece, which feature similar triangle-shaped sections outlined in different rainbow hues. These rainbow hues are based on a specific palette chosen by Thalhammer herself, who states that the colors “represent the intersection of people’s lived identities.” The triangular shapes were also chosen to show the balance of the three branches of government, the pink triangles serving as an important cultural reference for how LGTBQ+ individuals were identified and as a reference to the AIDS/HIV epidemic. To learn more about the history of the pink triangle, you can visit actupny.com.

The National Building Museum serves as a fantastic site for Equilateral Network because of their common ground in architecture and engineering. The museum itself is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of building and all its aspects – urban planning, architecture, design, construction, etc. At its core, the National Building Museum commits itself to teaching the public about building from both a practical engineering perspective and a more culture-oriented design perspective. The latter lends itself to Thalhammer’s work, which draws upon culture and history in its unique architectural design.

Thalhammer’s Equilateral Network is a welcome and warm sight in the heart of D.C. Its size and dedication to history and culture invite visitors of all backgrounds to spend time with the piece and reflect. This invitation is even more important as museums and other cultural organizations in D.C. begin to open up, albeit with extensive safety precautions in place. Equilateral Network offers a haven for those wanting to celebrate Pride at the museum with history and art while safely engaging with their community.

For those in the D.C. area or those planning on visiting, you can view a regularly updated list of the museum reopening schedule here.