KINGSTON — We’ve all seen those blue-and-yellow historical markers around the region commemorating long-forgotten battles or gatherings of once-famous men.
KINGSTON — We’ve all seen those blue-and-yellow historical markers around the region commemorating long-forgotten battles or gatherings of once-famous men.
But how about this marker, which you can find bolted to a building along Uptown Kingston’s Wall Street? It’s a bronze plaque commemorating one Alice Rose. And if that name doesn’t ring a bell, read on:
Alice Rose is “one of 13 million American children who goes to bed hungry each night while every day nearly 300 million pounds of good food goes to waste.”
Not exactly Washington-crossing-the-Delaware fare.
If you’re still left scratching your head, that’s exactly what artist Norm Magnusson, of Lake Hill, near Woodstock, hopes to accomplish with his series of provocative markers that are peppered around the region.
“They’re meant to be a bit subversive, to get people thinking,” he says.
Magnusson has created other markers addressing such issues as embryonic stem cell research, gay marriage and political apathy. Most names on the markers are those of imaginary people, but they could be someone real. If you’re wondering who the mysterious “Alice Rose” is, she’s Magnusson’s daughter.
Magnusson began his professional career in advertising; for the past 20 years, he’s pursued a successful career as painter who’s had shows at a number of well-known New York galleries.
His marker series is obviously political, but not in an obvious or alienating way:
“Most political art is singing my song — most of it is by left-wing artists, but in this shrill voice that even turns me off sometimes.”
Magnusson said he’s tried to make the tone of his markers non-confrontational.
“There’s a responsibility, I think, to not surprise someone with a screaming message that’s suddenly in their face.”
And because they are in public, Magnusson has the chance to observe how people respond.
He sometimes lingers near a marker posted along Tinker Street in Woodstock, memorializing one Robert Haas (Magnusson’s brother-in-law) who “believed that a healthy democracy must discourage apathy and respect dissent.”
“I love watching people stumble on it; I get to witness some of it. People walk by and stop and maybe grab their friends and look it and then at each other, saying, ‘What the heck ...’”
Magnusson is hoping to take his project on the road soon — the 27 “travel plazas” of the New York State Thruway, to be exact, planting, like a politically provocative Johnny Appleseed, the seeds of a more interesting conversation than whether you’ll have fries with that burger you just ordered.
Welcome to your feed! This is the home for all your notifications such as breaking news, or when someone replies to your posts.