[Photo © 2007 Paul Kolnik]
In his great book The Labyrinth Of Solitude, Ocatvio Paz remarks that "architecture is a society's unbribable witness." If you want to know the truth about any society, look at what it builds.
So what is the witness of Las Vegas, the most popular tourist destination in America? As you sit on the terrace of a French bistro, attached to a replica of Paris, and look across the street at an evocation of an Italian lake, or down the street at a replica of New York, or up the street at an evocation of ancient Rome, the message is clear -- "We don't know where we are."
Everyone in America feels this, along the strip developments and in the malls that all look the same, whether they're in Georgia or California -- even though they might not feel it on a conscious level, or admit it to themselves.
That's why they come to Las Vegas in such great numbers, and why they love it. Las Vegas tells us the truth, let's us admit the truth -- we don't know where we are -- and the truth is always exhilarating. It makes you want to party.
[A note to readers: I apologize for the site's being out of commission for a while -- it exceeded its bandwidth once again, even though my hosting service allowed me double the usage I was paying for. They finally decided that I needed to pay them more money -- that now done, the site should be functional for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the interest!]