Words in Chicago

We had a great visit to Chicago and stopped by the new modern wing of the Art Institute. I'm always smitten with Cy Twombly's use of text (50 days at Iliam is one of my favorite rooms at the PMA).The photography installation was mounted in a way I'd never seen, with folded gray paper lining the walls from top to bottom, with text printed on it. The font was super interesting: it's not entirely clear in this photo but some of the letters (there's no pattern as far as I can tell) are bolder than others which makes for a terrific effect.

I was pleased to learn more about the US Postal Service Motto's origin...and to think I actually read Herodotus in college and missed this entirely. The image of horse and man is especially sweet...



It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

HERODOTUS, Herodotus, trans. A.D. Godley, vol. 4, book 8, verse 98, pp. 96–97 (1924).