CULLMAN – Saturday marked the opening of a new art installation at the Red Door Emporium Café. Local artist Ben ‘South’ Johnson is showing off some 300 aphorisms and has turned the café into the 'One-Liner Diner'.
The aphorisms line the café’s walls with short and witty Southern sayings. The café will prepare a menu for the duration of the event that will reflect the theme of the installation.
The installation runs until September 30 and also features pieces from other notable Southern celebrities, including Mark Twain.
The One-Liner Diner helps complete a project Johnson has titled the Southern Humor Highway.
The Southern Humor Highway is a 1,027 mile, site-specific, multimedia work of art by Johnson. The main corridor of the Southern Humor Highway begins in Hannibal, MO and connects to New Orleans, LA. Johnson is creating the Southern Humor Highway to bring miles of smiles during a grim period of American economic uncertainty.
The art installation is Johnson’s attempt to change the national media's perception of the South.
“The national media seems to focus on a lot of negative views of the American South,” he said. “I want to remind people that Southerners bring great happiness to America and the world.”
Johnson aims to “puncture pomposity” with his artwork.
“The writers and entertainers from Twain to DeGeneres on 'The Southern Humor Highway' have given the gift of laughter to millions for many years. And, I want to add to that gift with my playful aphorisms of the One-Liner Diner," he said.
As Jelani Cobb noted in a piece for the New Yorker earlier this month, “there is a Southern Historical Association but not a Northern one; a genre known as Southern literature but no Northern corollary; and a concept of Southern politics as something distinct from the national variety.”
Johnson is a Cullman native, although his career has taken him all over the world. He has monetized his affinity for Southern culture with his website Southernness.com. On the site, Johnson sells various items ranging from clothing to books, all of which reflect what it means to be Southern.
Johnson wants to highlight the exceptionalism with the South and show why its characters are so colorful. The eccentricities of Southern life reflected in printed quips will be a piece of work, just like all those who make the South a great place to live.
Red Door Emporium Café is located at 324 4th Ave SE, Cullman, Alabama 35055. Their phone number is 256-734-0599.
