Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Boston- Day 1

(Day 25 of the trip)

Day 1

Our adventures in Boston were complicated by the complexities of trying to maneuver public transportation from where we were staying, which was about half an hour away from downtown Boston. A few of us had lunch at an excellent little Italian place near where our bus was parked, which we heard about from going next door to the mechanic’s shop and asking the guys there where they would recommend for lunch. That’s been one of my favorite parts of the trip- learning to become comfortable to approach people to ask things like where we should eat or how to get somewhere. I feel like we started off our trip relying mostly on ourselves and our plans- we’d eat at places that we’d read online were good restaurants and if we were lost, we’d consult the GPS. At this point in our journey, we’ve figured out that it often yields more fun and rewarding experiences to talk to the people in these cities, that most of them are more than willing to help you out if you need it. Definitely one of the lessons I am bringing back to Nashville with me.

Once we made it to the city, we began our walk on the Freedom Trail, which takes you through the heart of the city to historically significant stops like the old city hall, old churches and plenty of graveyards. I enjoyed this quite a bit- you really can feel the history behind Boston and I thought the Freedom Trail did a good job of explaining that history behind each stop.


In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote about citizens’ duty to dissent. One clear example we saw of this concept was in Boston, at the Institute of Contemporary Art. The main exhibit was an extensive collection of the work of Shepard Fairey, a contemporary artist and graphic designer whose work you may recognize from the 2008 presidential election when his “HOPE” poster featuring Obama gained widespread fame. I found his work to be extremely impressive and thought provoking. His work was mostly of a political nature, containing lots of messages against war and capitalist greed and challenged viewers to really consider what they were seeing in his art by mimicking the style of older propaganda. According to the information posted about Fairey in the museum, he believes that public space is the largest democratic media and therefore many of pieces have been plastered across many different cities in the forms of poster and bumper stickers.

Some of the more memorable phrases from his various artworks:
- A poster that looked like a dollar bill proclaimed in the tiny print around the border of the dollar “capitalism without discretion is an ugly religion” and “this ransom note is worth exactly what you are willing to give in order to get it”
- A poster that read “freedom of the press is guaranteed for those who own one”
- A work called “Uncle Scam” which was a play on the traditional “I Want You” recruitment posters that read “Do As He Says, Not As He Does” which speaks to the disconnect between what America proclaims are its ideals and what the reality of America is

The art exhibit was one of the highlights of the trip for me because it challenged me and exceeded my expectations- we’ve been to a number of museums along the way and while I always enjoy seeing them, I don’t always feel as though I’ll remember much about the exhibits later. I will definitely remember Shepard Fairey’s work. We ended our day with a surprise party on the bus for Andi’s birthday, which was probably one of the most fun nights we have had as a group. All in all, it was a great first day in Boston.

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