Today my partner and I went to see an exhibit on Pompeii and the Roman villa at the National Gallery. Seeing statues, bowls, silverware and paintings, retrieved from peoples home, that are 2000 years old, gives one pause. It reminds me of both our impermanence and our legacy. We as individuals are fleeting, but our culture has a longer life. This brings me to a question I overheard a woman at the Gallery ask her husband, "Two thousand years from now, what of ours will people come to Galleries to see?" Will Picasso be as enduring as Rembrandt? Time will judge, but it feels like less of our culture has enduring qualities, than the Romans, Greeks, Incas, Mayans and Egyptians.

The twentieth century heralded an informality both in our individual lives and in production that makes our more fleeting. Why have a family portrait done when you can simply have a picture taken. Why spend the money on individual pottery, when you can buy a set at IKEA for $20. Figurines have replaced statutes in our homes. While we gain accessibility, we loose uniqueness.

After seeing several statues of Dionysus, Athena, I commented to my partner that we do not have myths that help define us. She disagreed and pointed to Jesus, the Virgin Mary and that many black people have pictures of John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King in their homes. These things she believes replaces Apollo. Perhaps she is right.

At the end of our discussion and the exhibit I thought about our home and to what extent it speaks to who we are. Our home should tell our story. This thought made me want a statue of Anansi