Alberta Modern - Seeking interest

[CMcG]

Yes I suppose for better or worse that's true.

On the other hand the fact that some body or other has adopted a tartan doesn't make it a good design, and as an artist I'm interested in good design, and couldn't care less about politicians and their actions. In other words political approval legitimises things in the eyes of some, but not for me.

A perfect example of this is the West Virginia tartan. The real actual traditional tartan is an old relic brought from Scotland by an early settler. The tartan approved by the State is the same, but changed in a clumsy awkward ugly way. I utterly reject the bastardised tartan as being both false and hideous.

In any case my approach would not be to change the Alberta sett, but rather adjust the colours to make something as pleasing as possible. The sett is what it is, as you say. My understanding is that a sett is subject to changes in colours, and to a certain extent proportions, without invalidating the sett.

It’s unfortunate that the State of Virginia bastardized their tartan. The Alberta tartan, however, has more than just political approval— Albertans have adopted its use.

To give just a few examples, my buddy went to a private school in Edmonton where all the boys wore Alberta tartan ties and the girls wore Alberta tartan kilted skirts. Not too long ago there was a movement called "Join Together, Alberta" where the provincial tartan was used to protest cuts to government funding. Participants took photos of Albertan tartan scarfs all over the province. There was also a band called the Hay City Rollers who used the Alberta tartan as part of their stage attire.



Tartan Mash-up Submission by Jerry Edmonton, on Flickr
Tartan Mash-up by Jerry Edmonton, on Flickr
Join Together Alberta_0007.jpg by Jerry Edmonton, on Flickr


Part of the success of this tartan is that it looks like Alberta. The associations embodied in the colour choices thus are neither arbitrary, nor primarily aesthetic.

I’d be interested in a sort of “ultimate” Alberta tartan where the colours were tweaked to be their best—but only if they still fulfil their symbolic function of representing the big sky, clear lakes, abundant wheat, boreal forests, wild rose, and black “gold” (i.e., oil).