Dali and Johnny Holiday

Eric Thibault

All of the presentations were great, but I really liked a couple of the lighter-spirited ones. The "Dali Around Philly" slideshow covered a mildly interesting topic, but did a great job of presenting it. Apparently (and I think I remember hearing about this), the Philly Museum of Art had an exhibit of Dali's work, and advertised it by showing his face around the city. Eric Mencher showed a lot of originality in how he displayed Dali's face in several everyday settings. By taking picture's of Dali's face on buses, buildings, and steps, it really gave the viewer a feel of walking around downtown Philadelphia. Also, because he moved Dali's face around the screen and showed it from different perspectives, it almost give a "Where's Waldo" feel to the slide show. Standing alone, very few of the pictures would be considered to have Dali's face as the main subject. However, since the viewer was consciously looking for him, he stood out (not to mention that the face itself is a little creepy).

The other presentation that I enjoyed was the Johnny Holiday audio slide show. Holiday, 92, has found a second career late in life as an actor. I thought that both the pictures and Holiday's voice conveyed his excitement at finding this new passion. It also showed an older man in a light that isn't usually seen - full of energy, always moving, looking towards the future. I found myself wanting to watch him on TV, if only to see if he acted with the same zeal that he appeared to have in this piece.