Dear Action Line: Is there a proper orientation to view the metal artwork on the new Holiday Inn on Camino del Rio? Driving by, it looks like some very large and messy animal had a very wet sneeze on the wall. – Ewww

Dear Ewww: Before trying to answer the question, here’s a little background.

First of all, the “new” Holiday Inn Express at 1111 Camino del Rio opened in September 2020, which by Action Line’s math is nearly two years ago. Time flies. The metal artwork – a big plate that’s an estimated 25 feet wide and 20 feet tall, give or take several feet – was installed at that time.

The hotel’s general manager, Sarina Sanchez, made a couple of inquiries to the corporate office and learned that it was NGC Group, or New Generation Construction, out of Lincoln, Nebraska, that built the Durango Holiday Inn and was in charge of the metal artwork. Sanchez said Holiday Inn asked NGC for “mountain scenery designed to give a feel for Durango.” The scene is not a particular mountain or area.

It’s not too hard to see evergreen trees and a mountain top or two. Action Line believes that if you squint just right and let your mind go, maybe you can see a building or even a train car in there.

While it’s easy to be a critic, Action Line is not so quick to dismiss this piece as being out of place or something to be mocked. So what if it does look like an animal sneeze? Isn’t that kind of cool? While Ewww and others aren’t giving it a thumb’s up, others in a small straw poll are. But maybe a larger question here: “Is it art?”

One local artist who asked not to be ID’d answered, “I say, absolutely. The fact we are talking about it is enough to make it art in my book. Whether or not it is good is irrelevant to me. Everyone can answer that for themselves and everyone will be right.”

This artist quoted jazz musician John Coltrane:

“I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I’m doing. ... The emotional reaction is all that matters. As long as there’s some feeling of communication, it isn’t necessary that it be understood.”​

So if you’re being extremely generous, you could maybe even give kudos to the metal plate designer for creating something that looks different from changing vantage points.

Action Line would suggest this for “proper orientation”: Take a look early in the morning on a sunny day. The trees and mountain top stand out. If you’re looking at it in low light, it’s harder to see the trees.

Could some artist maybe create something better? Well, Action Line is going to look at this as a glass-half-full thing. The current artwork ain’t that bad, and is definitely better than a blank wall.

Dear Action Line: Why does the bot that compiles “You might also like” stories on the Herald’s website have a thing for foreheads? The photos always seem to be oddly cropped, with emphasis on the hairline of the person and not the face. It reminds me of the old-time “Kilroy Was Here” graffiti. – Kilroy

Dear Kilroy: It appears that readers are unaware of the fun game that Herald technicians have designed: Can you tell by just the forehead if this person is smiling? Just click on the forehead to get the full photo of the face and find out.

Furthermore, even if it wasn’t a fun game, this method of cropping gives a better look at the forehead, and as Cicero once said (it’s on tape in Roman archives of the period), “The forehead is the gate of the mind.”

Said Herald columnist and cropee Jim Cross, “Just know that a high forehead is a sign of intelligence.” Cross is a former Fort Lewis College professor, so he knows about things like this.

The most useful information about the subject comes from the great band They Might Be Giants, who once said, “Everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads.”

Finally, the official answer comes from Shane Benjamin, the Herald’s deputy editor:

“The Kilroy-esque forehead photos were the result of a bad crop,” Benjamin explained. An automated process was creating the badly cropped photos, but the Herald worked with a third-party vendor to correct the issue. The problem seems to be fixed.

Admit it, Kilroy: You’re going to miss the foreheads, aren’t you?

Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. The song lyrics are from They Might Be Giants’ classic album “Flood,” the song “We Want a Rock.” Rocks, of course, are needed to wind a piece of string around. But you knew that.