Velvet Ayn

A few years back, Robert Bidinotto gave a lecture on spirituality or somesuch at the TOC Summer Seminar. I don't remember the details of his arguments now, nor even the title, but I do know that I wasn't exactly awed. At the time, I derisively joked that his basic advice seemed to be that we all needed Objectivist curio cabinets in which to properly concretize our values.

After a number of years of TOC Seminars in which Objectivist schwag was doled out to various groups apparently under the influence of Bidinotto, my joke didn't seem quite so funny anymore. We got the Ayn Rand stamp in a keychain, a TOC lapel pin, a candy dish, and so on. Although some was useful, most was just fodder for the curio cabinet, I suppose.

By way of explaining my disdain, I'm generally averse to sentimental knickknacks. They are a royal pain to dust and cats always find them insanely appealing. More importantly, they would seem like rather shallow displays of emotion for me, although I understand that others might have deeper attachments.

I recount all of that silliness because when I saw this painting tonight, I thought "Oh gee, wouldn't that be perfect for the wall above the Objectivist curio cabinet?" The echoes of religious kitsch are quite painful actually, particularly when contrasted with its particular content. I wonder who paid $14,000 (!) for it. (Via Will Wilkinson.)

Of course, I do like many of the paintings featured on the web site of Quent Cordair Fine Art... and some of Sylvia Bokor's work looks interesting. But the cognitive dissonance of "Beginnings" was quite harsh.