Expo's, World's Fair, etc.

Global cynicism outpacing global optimism coupled with the realization that World Fairs are basically government/corporate advertising events.

The Y2K celebrations were pretty close.

I only remember one day of Expo. I think my dad, my sister, and I made the mutual decision that it was gay and decided to do other things around Vancouver.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0609608444.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I went to this one. I think I considered it disappointing to the extent that it turned out to be not-very-convincing govt/corporate advertising, but interesting on a sort of art-installation level and to the extent it seemed to reflect different national cultures (which seemed fairly significant to me at the time). I do remember wanting to leave and check out the rest of Vancouver, though.

Haven't been outside the US since that afternoon. This may change soon.

That's weird that you were also there. I figured that most ilxors would've gone to the Knoxville one.

I was also at the '86 Vancouver fair. (and technically I was at the '67 Montreal one too, but I was only two years old)

'Research indicates that the African people in “Darkest Africa” came to the Pan-Am knowing generally what to expect. They were paid to live and perform there. Several members of the group had appeared previously in World’s Fairs at Chicago (1893) and San Francisco (1894). One of these African men, John Tevi, recruited the Dahomeyan performers for “Darkest Africa” and was one of two African “chiefs” in charge of the village. His story suggests that the Africans in “Darkest Africa” joined the troupe to see the world, make money, have an adventure, gain experience, and improve their lives...'

I think it's less about global cynicism outpacing global optimism than:

1. the advent of mass jet travel from the 1970s - you could go to the actual countries, rather than just their pavillions.
2. people becoming increasingly sophisticated about / concerned with "authentic experience." Not saying that this is what tourists now get, but it was pretty obvious that government-sponsored pavillions had little to do with folk life / culture.

My grandfather worked for Moses (not as, like, a Moses Man but some sort of corollary employee) for the '64 fair. He has alzheimer's now and I was never able to ask him about it when he was more lucid.

and then there's the rah-rah long-form corporate advertisement stuff -- maybe several decades ago people were more eager to believe electric companies could build the future, but now we just laugh at anyone who tells us that.

It's a wig store now.

The Monorail - didn't ride it.

The German Pavilion that looked like an overblown circus tent, but to their credit, they offered beer to everyone - even me at age 13.

The globular US pavilion which I seem to remember nothing of, unless that was the place that had videophones. Even then I was unimpressed. I got to talk to a family member via this very regular looking phone with a video camera positioned above it.

The Swiss place had the biggest wall of animated wooden muppets ever assembled that I'm sure I'll ever see.

The Russian pavilion had a 2 hour waiting line.

The Czech one had like a 6 hour line.

The Canadian pavilion was the best. A round building in which you stood in a round room with movie screens surrounding you. It took you on a simulated flight over the country. There were railings everywhere to hold onto as you'd lose your balance when the plane banked.

The gyrotron; A ride that took you to valhalla or some other strange place ascending all the time with a freefall of a couple a hundred feet at the end. Worth the ride, I'll admit.

I still have a commemorative ashtray.

1939 NYWF's ELEKTRO

please edit it so after he says "electro, will you tell your story", some classic voder electro kicks in, perhaps Newtrament's London Bridge "THIS IS A COOL JAM"...

I took a tour of the World's Fair sites as part of the last Open House New York, since I live pretty close by. Fascinating stuff. The Queens Museum of Art also has a whole World's Fair exhibit. Did you know the Queens Museum of Art used to be the UN? Robert Moses wanted the UN there but the rest of the world was like, fuck that, we'll be in manhattan. Still, Israel was created in Queens.

I toured the park on my own salivating over the maps I had studied beforehand, but feel there was much I missed ala what you describe Dan.

I also missed the Buckminster Fuller exhibit at the Whitney, but did catch the prefab housing exhibit at the Moma, which had enough Expo 67 (and WDW) behind the scenes footage to leave me overstimulated for a day.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/03/08/a_sorry_spectacle?page=full

http://shanghaiscrap.com/?p=5017

what a pickle

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/shanghai_prepares_for_expo_201.html
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/shanghais_expo_nearly_ready.html

I'm going to try to catch this at the Toronto Indie Film Festival next week (concurrent with the big one? I think so--I only go now if my friend throws me a ticket):

http://www.wheresthefair.com/

When I was a kid, my family went to Montreal's "Man and His World" in 1968, the year after Expo '67. I think the latter was classified as a World's Fair, but I don't know about what I saw. Anyway, whatever happened to them? It's a good question.

America in world ignorance non-shocker. They're still going on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_expositions

Thanks. According to that, what we saw didn't count (just the remnants of '67, I guess)--San Antonio gets credit for the '68 World's Fair.

Bought this on a whim at a store-closing sale a few months ago--liked it a lot:

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/images/Tomorrow-Land-COVER.jpg

Much like Summer of '68, a baseball book I just read, it's half about the ostensible subject and half about the larger context. I honestly didn't know a thing about Robert Moses going in--such an amazing autocrat. I really regret missing that documentary I posted about above. I have an irrational desire to start collecting postcards from the '64/65 and '67 Fairs. The Expo '67 ones are really nice, but there are so many of them.

wow that looks really cool!

after my mother-in-law passed away we found photos of her at the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition. super great.

I went to World Expo 88 in Brisbane, at the time I thought it was RAD. I mainly remember the food pavilion, and the China pavillion which was freaking enormous & marvelous. Oh and my aunt was in a wheelchair so we got to jump all the lines :D