Juxtapose Your Day

Mark is an excellent writer who richly conveys life in and around New York. He’s a tough guy with no-pulled-punches opinions and he also loves theatre and art. Juxtaposition, indeed. Read what he has to say about museums today and then follow him. He doesn’t feel bad about it, but he definitely should have more readers.

Exile on Pain Street

Juxtaposition is when two contrasting items are placed in close proximity to one another for heightened effect. In concert, a band will play a raucous song followed by a quiet one. Springsteen does it a lot. It’s Beethoven’s favorite device. His music is ether bombastic or delicate. Movies, literature, art—it’s everywhere. Juxtaposition is used to tweak your perceptions.

After the humiliation of watching a derelict violently berate two young girls and not lifting a finger to help them, the rest of my day unfolded in a narcotic euphoria. It was like watching a sped-up film of a flower opening.

I unpacked the guilt I was carrying for calling in sick (when I wasn’t), and the guilt for not helping those girls and left it on the marble staircase of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Forgiveness is a snap under the right conditions. I came out of the subway at 86th Street and…

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