Christo and Jeanne-Claude

I think I have mentioned it before, but this past year we went to St. Louis and got a room with a great view of the Arch. I spent probably an hour before going to bed just staring out at it.

We got up early the next morning, and just went and walked around it. It is in a class of it's own. You can't compare it to a great American statue or skyscraper. It is THE Arch. It looks so perfect. It is a piece of art- it is the face of St. Louis. That night, looking at it from my hotel window and the next morning walking up to it with just a couple of other tourists scattered distantly- I had to catch my breath.

It is beautiful for the sake of being beautiful.

I get goosebumps whenever that cell phone commercial comes on showing various monuments around America being draped in orange. There is something so cool about it. Plus, there is that magic Nick Drake song, "From the Morning" being played over the commercial. What a great song by the way.

Great images of this country's great land marks, with a great song playing. The digitally added orange covering is nice too.

There is a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen during the commercial saying that the artists Christo and Jean-Claude are not associated with the company. Christo and his now late wife Jeanne Claude heavily influenced the concept for this commercial. I won't go in to it here, but google it. In fact, do yourself a favor, and look up their art work.

The Arch, art for the sake of art, and listening to great, mellow music like that of Drakes are so America. Sometimes when you travel, the trip can take a bit out of you, and the fast pace of a big city can really feel chaotic, but getting to a beautiful place, and seeing something made for the sake of beauty is really what the trip is about.

Check out this cool postcard of Christo and Jean-Claude's work. The back of the card reads:

"Christo and Jeanne-Claude will not derive and income from the sales. Proceeds will benefit Nurture New York's Nature."

Man, I admire the heck out of them. They intended for their art to be pretty much pure. No commercials for them.