Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2005, Síða 45

One of the first things you notice
when you get past the reception
desk at the American Visionary Art
Museum in Baltimore, a museum
dedicated to self-taught artists, is the
“Robot Family” by Pennsylvanian
artist DeVon Smith. The parents,
their children and a dog made of
vacuum cleaners, hoses, clamps, and
tail lights turn their heads, move
their arms, blink their eyes and
generally sort of creep you out in
a friendly way. From the entrance,
you make your way to the second
floor exhibits, including “Holy H2O
– Fluid Universe” where all the
pieces are water-themed. An artist
calling himself Mr. Imagination has
a series of giant, multi-coloured and
well-detailed fish made entirely of
bottlecaps.
The stars of the museum are Nancy
Josephson’s “La Siren” and Tom
Duncan’s sculpture “Slave Ship”.
Inspired by the voodoun goddess
of the same name, “La Siren” is a
working fountain done in the form
of a voodoo shrine. A life-sized
goddess clad in beads, sequins and
glitter stands, holding a snake in
each hand, water pouring from their
mouths into a pool below which
is bedecked in shells, Virgin Mary
icons, candles and other offerings.
The piece was inspired by the artist’s
own travels in Haiti, and perfectly
conveys the feral beauty of the
voodoun faith.
Duncan’s “Slave Ship” hits you
like a punch in the stomach. This
meticulously detailed sculpture of
a slave ship, replete with row upon
row of people chained together in
cramped quarters below deck, also
carries the products of slavery’s
legacy, from Klansmen to minstrel
singers in blackface. At the prow of
the ship, the Statue of Liberty holds
a skeleton aloft in her torch.
The AVAM is easy to find. It sits
on the south side of Baltimore’s
Inner Harbour, right next to the
famed Federal Hill (which still has
cannons from the Civil War aimed
at downtown Baltimore). As you
approach the building, take a look at
the giant, psychedelic weathervane
standing next to it. Like most of
the pieces inside the museum, it’s
easy to tell that it was constructed
from whatever discarded materials
were at the artist’s disposal – bicycle
chains, traffic cones, bits of glass
and such – but the end result is a
wholly different creature that you
almost expect to sprout legs and start
dancing. These pieces live.
The American Visionary Arts Museum
also has a detailed website: http://
www.avam.org/.
You Must See....
THE VISIONARY ART MUSEUM, BALTIMORE MD
BALTIMORE
FIVE THINGS YOU MUST EAT WHILE IN BALTIMORE
Crabs. Available only in months
without an “R” (May through
August), the Chesapeake blue
crab is often touted as the most
quintessential Baltimore dish.
The crabs are typically steamed
with heaps of Old Bay seasoning
(which you can buy at Hagkaup,
too) and served on a table covered
in newspaper. Your sole utensil
is a small wooden mallet. There’s
a science to eating crabs, as the
calories you get from eating one crab
are usually burned through the effort
of opening the next one - you won’t
get full unless you’re really efficient.
Your “Baltimore baptism” comes
when the sharp edge of a broken
shell cuts your fingers and that Old
Bay seasoning gets in the wound.
Feel that burn? That’s Baltimore
saying hello. You can get steamed
crabs in just about any restaurant
during the season, but I would
personally recommend getting a
dozen from any number of carry-out
places near the harbour - the prices
are better and, if you tell them this
is your first visit to Baltimore, I can
guarantee they’ll throw in a few extra
crabs for nothing.
Crab cakes. A variation of crab,
but not at all the same thing. I once
read an Icelander compare them to
plokkfiskur, if you fried it. This is
blasphemy. Crab cakes consist of
crab meat mixed with egg and spices,
formed into a patty, and deep fried. I
would personally recommend going
to Phillip’s, a restaurant at the Inner
Harbor where I used to work, so you
have my word when I say the crab
cake is the best thing on the menu.
Oysters. Available only in months
with an “R” (September through
April) and not for the squeamish.
Raw oysters aren’t everyone’s cup
of tea, but if you slurp them down
sprinkled with lemon juice and
cocktail sauce, they can make a nice
albeit sometimes expensive snack.
For a treat on the high end, stop by
McCormick & Schmick’s near the
Inner Harbor (711 Eastern Ave.)
and order the large oyster sampler,
which features oysters from around
the world. For the budget traveller,
there’s nothing wrong with the
Chesapeake Bay oyster, which has
a light flavour and again is available
from any number of carry-out places
near the harbour.
Lake Trout. This dish is probably
more Baltimorean than crabs. Lake
trout is available year-round and is
typically served batter-dipped and
deep-fried, with French fries. It’s a
fish with a light flavour, kind of like
haddock. Lake trout is everywhere;
you get buy it at just about every
corner on the west side and, as the
recipe doesn’t vary that much from
place to place, it doesn’t matter
where you buy it.
Malt liquor. Malt liquor is a beer
with a very high alcohol percentage
typically sold in forty-ounce (about
one and half litre) bottles called
“forties.” You can buy malt liquor
in any city in America, but in
Baltimore, the 40 is a way of life.
My personal favourite is Olde
English 800, and if you want to
drink it in keeping with the spirit
of the city, you should buy your 40
from a corner liquor store and drink
it not only straight from the bottle,
but also while keeping the bottle in
the paper bag it came in. The bag
not only serves to keep it colder
for slightly longer than if it were
exposed, but it’s understood among
cops in Baltimore that you can drink
whatever you want on the street so
long as you keep the bottle in the
paper bag.
Compiled by Paul F Nikolov
by Paul F Nikolov
Iceland Express connecting to British Airways
is between about 10,000 to 25,000 krónur
less than taking a direct flight from Iceland
to Baltimore via Icelandair. What you pay
when you combine Iceland Express and British
Airways can vary, depending on how far
in advance you book your flight (the farther
ahead, the better) and what day of the week
you leave and return (avoid weekends and
holidays). It will involve staying the night in
London on your way to Baltimore, but not on
the return to Iceland. Myself, I booked my
flight at almost the last minute, leaving on a
Wednesday and returning eight days later, on
a Thursday, and still ended up paying about
45,000 kr.
When I tried booking a direct flight through
Icelandair on the Internet, the price quoted to
me was a little over 54,000 kr and over the
phone, it cost around 71,000 kr. Even with one
night in London, going Iceland Express/British
Airways to Baltimore is still cheaper than
Icelandair. While it is true that Icelandair offers
“specials” to the US for as low as 36,000
kr, this is only for specific dates, and the
salesperson I spoke to wouldn’t tell me what
ICELAND EXPRESS TO
BALTIMORE
PASSING THROUGH
Baltimore is also a major jumping off point to
other cities in the country. Here’s a basic look
at a few of the better airline deals we were
able to find. Prices include all fees and are e-
ticket prices for roundtrip flights with departures
and arrivals during weekdays in April and
May. See www.expedia.com for more details.
As always, the further ahead you book, the
cheaper it’ll be:
Los Angeles
Frontier Airlines flies to LA for $218. There’s a
connecting flight in Denver, but your total travel
time is seven hours and thirty-five minutes.
Chicago
United Airlines is offering direct flights to
Chicago for $163 with a duration of about
two hours.
New York
US Airways has flights to LaGuardia for $251,
while Delta has direct flights to JFK for $231.
Both flights take about an hour and a half.
Miami
American Airlines has a two-and-a-half hour
direct flight to Miami for $143.
Seattle
Continental flies to Seattle in eight-and-a-half
hours, with a connecting flight in Houston, for
$214.
If you want to travel by rail, Baltimore’s Penn
Station is centrally located on Charles St., just
on the other side of the bridge that spans over
I-83 and is hard to miss thanks to the giant
mobile sculpture they’ve recently erected in
front of it. Round trip to New York by train will
only set you back $73 and get you there in a
little over three hours.
Greyhound is also downtown, just a few blocks
west of Charles St. on Fayette St. Round-trip
to New York by bus will cost $65 if you buy
the ticket less than three days before your
departure date, $45 if you book at least three
days in advance and, oddly, $58 if you book
seven days in advance.
dates these are; you have to pretty much try
different combinations of arrival and departure
dates, over and over again, until you’re lucky
enough to hit the “special” price.
For more information, go to www.
icelandexpress.com or call them at 550 0650,
Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 GMT.