Friday, March 6, 2009

Pseudo-Irish Bagels and Deli




The relentless clockwork of the year brings us to St. Patrick's day, and the time of "Irish" marketing. I decorated the specials board at Mena's "Bagels, Deli, and Donuts"
in a proper pseudo-Irish design, with a bird in the left corner and a stylized dog in the lower right corner. Putting a "Celtic" design on a food advertisement made me consider how many cultures we have assimilated in America and turned into commercial enticements. There can be no such thing as "authentic" cultural material here. But is "authenticity" really desirable? I can think of some moments (in Europe) where I encountered something "authentic," that is, performed or made by the people who created it, in the place it was created. Those moments are rare and probably irretrievable now. As an artist I always work with fake stuff. At least the food is real.

You can visit "Bagels, Deli, and Donuts" on their web site, where you can see the people and the fare. Mena (or "Meena") is on the right in the home page photo. If you're ever in Falls Church, please visit! 


1 comment:

Tristan Alexander said...

Nice, someday I have to get you to try your hand at doing a scroll for the SCA. You can obviously do Celtic style.