“The Warriors of the Order were those Jedi who placed a special emphasis on the martial arts, particularly lightsaber combat. They honed their skills in warfare, but not because they saw war as desirable; the Jedi knew that war did not make them great, either as individuals or as an Order. Instead, many Jedi saw the martial arts as a way to hone the mind-body connection, and in so doing to become closer to the Force. Equally important, and perhaps more so to some, was the role of the Jedi as peacekeepers and protectors of the innocent. Even though nonviolent resolution of conflicts was their ideal, the Jedi knew that there would always be those who would not bend to reason. And so, the Jedi knew they must stand ever ready to battle the evil and corrupt for the betterment of the galaxy.” – Knights of Fate via Fantasy Flight Games
Naomi closing the Moschino x H&M show in New York.
Naomi’s crown is still untouchable after countless years of working in one of the most anti-black, misogynist and ageist indrustries like she really is the one.
“I think the main responsibility you have is like, “Look, I’m gonna do me.” Like, even when it’s scary for me. Even when I’m going out my comfort zone, and I feel exposed, I’m going to be my fullest, most complex self. And in doing that hopefully you inspire other people in power, other people to go, like, “All right, you know, if he’s going to look like a dickhead with his shirt off in that, then maybe I can too.”
Back in January, while going through a box of negatives from the 1950s, I saw that there were 10 photographs of Georgia O’Keeffe in the Museum posing with several of her works that are in our collection: Blue #1 and #2. Our Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern exhibition had moved on to its next venue 6 months earlier, and, although I had worked in the Museum’s Archives for 2 years, January was when I became the only Archivist at the Museum. When I first saw these photos so many questions ran through my mind—but mainly, had the curators seen these photographs? Were these of Georgia herself handing over her work to the Museum? Although the circumstances surrounding how these images came to be are lost to history, we can learn a lot from their very existence.
Often when doing research in Archives, people say that they “discovered” something that Archivists had meticulously and carefully arranged, described, and made accessible. When researchers say that they have made a discovery in an archival collection, that erases the often hidden labor of Archivists. Instead of saying “discovered” I prefer to use other turns of phrase, such as re-cover or “brought to light.” Many Archivists have written about the erasure of Archival labor, such as Stacie Williams, Hillel Arnold, and Rebecca Patillo. I didn’t discover these images of O’Keeffe, but they were brought to our contemporary consciousness because I pulled the negatives from the Archives, our team in our Digital Lab digitized them, and our people working in Social Media posted this.
These photographs of O’Keeffe are described in one of the Archives’ 15 massive Microsoft Access databases that contain our collection information. But they were in a relatively small spreadsheet that only inventoried photographs of events in the 1950s. We’re working on migrating our collections information out of Microsoft Access to ArchivesSpace; it is a time intensive project that will take over a year. Recognizing each other’s work and the work of our predecessors is necessary because, if we don’t, we risk having our own labor devalued. I think that these images of O’Keeffe posing with her work pair nicely with the concept of recognition. She literally and figuratively stands by her work. And, while there will always be loads of work to accomplish in the Archives, I stand by and deeply appreciate the labor of my predecessors.
If you find yourself in times of trouble, ask yourself, ‘what would Gandalf do’, and remember, ‘beat a man unconscious with a big stick’ is a valid answer
When I find myself in times of trouble, Gandalf Greyhame comes to me, Wailing on those assholes, With a tree (with a tree)
wrennette 