The Old, Weird America at the Frye

I’m standing in front of an Aaron Morse painting entitled “The Good Hunt (#2).” A man with a large rifle in his hand is proudly posed on top of a mountain of brightly colored animal carcasses. In fact, saying that the animals were brightly colored is an understatement; they looked like Easter pastel puke. The painting is unsettling, mainly because of the man’s eyes. They are possessed; they are empty and bright, unable to truly see the result of his barbarous act. The image in front of me is unsettling and vulgar and I feel a bit scared by it. I hear a loud noise behind me, the sound of turning motors. Turning around to see what it is, I am instantly frightened by Cynthia Norton's (aka Ninnie) installation. Four red and white checkered dresses, with puffy sleeves and crinoline skirts that are attached to what looks like an altered umbrella clothesline are pirouetting in a square formation, conjuring up a phantom shaker dance. Dancing was extremely important in Shaker worship; it added a greater dimension to the expression of prayer. They believed the whole of one’s body should be dedicated to the praise of God, not just the tongue and vocal cords. The dancing was due to a direct operation of the Holy Spirit; the spinning motion was completely an inspirational dance. These dresses are spooky, they look like ghosts dancing, endlessly spinning in the air. I can’t help but imagine what the women looked like who wore dresses exactly similar to the ones before me, and I am immediately haunted by my awareness of them. I can see them perfectly before me, propelling themselves in circles by moving one foot around the other. 

The exhibit, “The Old, Weird America” at Seattle’s Frye Museum explores the traditional folklore that we Americans have buried in our minds. Civil war veterans, campfire stories, cowboys, founding fathers, quirky road signs, old movie posters and the rest of the hidden history that is often left out of the traditional American history textbooks inspire the show. The art tells a different story, one that you won’t find in the mainstream. One of the best examples of America’s double-sided history is addressed in Sam Durant’s installation, “Pilgrims and Indians, Planting and Reaping, Learning and Teaching.” On a slowly rotating divided circular platform using displays and wax figures that Durant purchased from the now closed Plymouth National Wax Museum in Massachusetts, the installation tells the two stories of Thanksgiving. On one side is the famed and believed story of how Native Americans happily taught the settlers how to grow corn by fertilizing it with herring- a smart tip that lead to a bountiful harvest and a full feast that was enjoyed by both the settlers and the Native Americans. On the other side, Capitan Mile Standish is killing a Pequot man, Pecksuot. The man Pecksuot had challenged the Capitan and the Capitan lashed back, killing Pecksuot. Still in an act of rage, Standish led a raiding party to kill the Pequots. This raiding led to the deaths of over 1,500 Pequot Indians. When the massacre was over and their mission was a great success, a feast of thanks, a day of Thanksgiving was declared. How about that for an alternative history?!?!

I strongly recommend checking out this exhibition at the Frye if you can and go beyond what you think you know. There are still a lot of stories waiting to be told.