Four Stools and a Chair by Chipka
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Description
I wrote, once, of the pockets of Chicago in possession of skid row elegance. I cherish such places; they exist in large numbers, but they’re harder to come by. Such places possess a certain charm, a kind of intimacy lacking in the more modern, cleaner aspects of the city. Cleanliness (that stuff allegedly next to godliness) occupies an odd niche in the human psyche. I have no qualms with cleanliness, but I do question a passive, unquestioning approach to such a concept. Cleanliness is a good thing, but it is all-too-often associated with caustic sterility, and sterility—when all is said and done—is terrifying in its implications. That which is sterile is lifeless. Real terror, for me, resides a bit deeper than the surface of preceding sentence might imply. Sterility, associated with cleanliness being a lifeless thing also means that in a particular mindset, life equals filth. This, I think, is why I am attracted to apparently dirty (or at least grungy) places.
I thought of that as I peeked through the window of an Arab-language café, offering food and hookah (and probably the scent of sweat.) The place offers free wi-fi as well, but I rarely see anyone in it. As I passed it (last week) with Corey, it was closed for the night; but, it immediately made me think of William S. Burroughs. Specifically, it made me think of his novels.
I read Naked Lunch during my formative years as a mature reader...I went on to his other works, including Junky...and much later: The Western Land. I read his collected short (and unfinished) works assembled under the title Interzone and it was actually Interzone that entered my mind as I peeked through a glass door at four empty stools and an empty chair, standing (bolted to the floor) like resolute guardians, protecting the counter and all that stood behind it.
I saw grime. I saw signs of dirt. I saw cleanliness, but not sterility. I was comforted by this. Though I may never eat at the café pictured here (and I don’t even know its name) I can say that I cherish its existence. It possesses something particularly Burroughsian. Perhaps Bill Lee, the protagonist in many of Burroughs’ works might walk in: looking for Dr. Benway...Kiki might be found inside, drinking coffee between rounds of hustling on some obscure street corner. Grime, when I see it in the context of a café, always throws me back into a harder time in US-American history, a time of tingling excitement, as captured in many writers with something in common with Burroughs.
I suspect that the current sterility of Chicago reminds me that the abject monsters who once lived here have passed on. I can’t say that I really miss them, but I miss the messy, grungy, un-tempered honesty that their often-unwelcome presence announced. I can’t say that I like life as it’s presented in a Burroughs novel (or short story) but I do like the honest emotional texture. Honesty, is itself similar to grunge: it’s never as “neat” and as “clean” and “cut and dry” as we like to think it is. It’s complex, complicated, borderless…a messy, unapologetic amoeba, oozing all over the place. It’s not always pretty. It’s probably never “clean." Human grunge and un-clean, un-sterile stuff is what makes us human. This doesn’t mean that we should sink into instinct-rich muck and mire and embrace crass and cruel things…but it does mean that we should be aware of them and stop trying to beat them into submission with political correctness. If we do that, we will sterilize ourselves and everything else in the world. And if we do that, what will remain of life? Where and what will we eat?
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all on the verge of a great week.
Comments (18)
MagikUnicorn
SWEET SHOT
Faemike55
Wonderful capture and interesting discussion.
wysiwig
As usual your writing is superb, often more important than your image. This narrative really spoke to me. I can remember Los Angeles in the early '60s when Whilshire Boulevard near downtown was lined with mom and pop stores. I used to hang out in a dusty little music store with floor to ceiling bookshelves crammed with sheet music. The old proprieter knew where everything was. Today the space holds a multistory steel and glass office building. You know, sterile. Older places absorb history (and oders) and are scaled for humans. They have character. Newer buildings are monuments, not to humans but to corporations.
treasureprints
Great shot!:)
brewgirlca
That's a great shot Chip. I really like how you caught the subtle reflections which just show up on the left side. The muted colors of old neon .... It makes me wonder how you played with your white balance either in camera or postwork. There is a lovely leading line in this with the bright red circles drawing one into the diner. I too share this love of kinda grubby diners. I ate at a place called Jack's in the Bronx. It was a classic American diner that served way, way too much food, it was embarrasing how much I had to leave behind as I had no fridge. But it had the feel that you capture here. It was clean, but not sterile. Cleaned so much and so many times it had been worn down and now it could never be cleaned clean again... if you get my drift. It felt like the Chinese diner in the small prairie town that my Grandpa would take me to when I was a kid and got to spend long weeks on his farm. This image reminds me of those old ethnic resteraunts, the ones started by the first generation but not taken over by the kids because they went on to become doctors and lawyers. Not the glitzy modern ethnic eateries but the ones who served home style food, whatever home style was to them and however they could make it with the resources thay had in their new found land. I ate in some pretty fine places in New York, but the one I remember most fondly was Jack's in the Bronx.
PREECHER
a wonderful colourful perspective not only in the photo but in your writing...i particularly connect with the honesty analogy because as far as i am concerned you 'nailed it'...i was raised and continue to be surrounded by 'honest' hypocrits who aren't honest at all and they are so clean and if it isn't clean it gets 'swept' under the rug...i have been called 'brutally honest'...i really like the 'balance' of your photo...the singlular chair lined with the stools sitting in front of the counter and then all the shelves in the back filled with this and that...it is actually a very tidy looking establishment and the 'we card' sign sitting there so proudly...yes this looks like an intimate spot for sure...it's very linear to a degree...have a great evening... chills and thrills tomaorrow is the 6th and i have a great shot involving that dead tree that i love...
MrsRatbag
Yes. I agree completely with your words, Chip. And it's a beautiful scene you've given us, with some shiny chrome and really intriguing shadows in a golden light. Wonderful!
netot
I love your work not only for its visual quality, but also because there is always a history behind. Sterility means too impersonal, and therefore indifference, that indifference which makes man a being without feelings and selfish.
auntietk
Clean, but worn. Worn is fine. Worn has character. We once stayed in a wonderful old motel just off a two-lane highway in a very, very small town in Kansas. You know the type. Small-town Midwest America. The place was clean, but worn. The tiles in the shower were brown with a pale glaze, and they'd been there since the 1950s. The shower was clean, but the tiles had been scrubbed so many times over the years that the glaze was worn off and they just looked brown down near the floor. Clean as a whistle, but not sterile. We've stayed in many hotel rooms in our travels, but there are only a few that stand out. The big chains are sterile, no matter how clean they may or may not be. It's the character I remember, not the cookie-cutter soullessness of sterility.
whaleman
I find it interesting that one original stool has been replaced with a chair of similar height. Perhaps these stools are getting hard to come by now. I sometimes eat at the Commodore Cafe in Edmonton, which has been in operation since 1942 and has a complete collection of these nice old stools kept in good condition.
durleybeachbum
This is a peep into the image I have of stereotypical American city bars. A great narrative as always which elicits great comments.
jayfar
Very well seen and a lovely low light capture.
flavia49
marvelous
Fidelity2
Superb! 5+! Thanks.
sandra46
wonderful mood great shot
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend. God Bless.
icerian
Dear Chip, this is another beutiful shot from urban area. I like bars and atmosphere there. In couple of days I will visit Hamburg where I would like have a look at a new bar designed by a new famous architekt.
danapommet
An excellent example of "skid row elegance". Love the emptiness and awesome colors!