Today Ilana and I went on a little outing. And I didn't bring my camera, what was I thinking? Ilana (and others) wonder, do I lose some of the experience by always wanting to document the sights around me? I replied that I didn't think it did rather it enhanced my experience by making more mindful of all the rich things around me. However it might diminish those with me.
At first, we considered the Picasso exhibit downtown. Pricey $23. Parking. Going downtown. crowded. Already feeling kind of overwhelmed 'with everything else' which is what everybody else also has.
Ilana wanted to visit her old buds at the Foster Business Library at UW. Plus we always talked about going to the Thai plaice on the Ave. So I took Ted to the familiar dog park where everybody knows him. Decided on University Parking. Went the Thai place.
As usual the Henry Art Gallery was full of things that caused us to shake our head sand say "I don't get it". But the overall felling I got was refreshing and encouraging. The diverse exhibits all built on using the rich visual and artistic content that we have ALL around us. All the time. Sometimes we can't see it. Sometimes we can't recognize it. Often it just rushes past us, in an instant. Two of the larger installations used pieces in their own collections. The shot taken from the artists SuttonBeresCuller website shows a wide angle vies of Panoptos which featured many pieces of Henry's collection along with a user operated camera which would allow the viewers to select which physical part or quadrant (not sure) of the piece they liked. Unfortunately the photo user interface thingee was not working while we were there. But just the breadth and variety of the items in the small space impresses me.
Vortexhibition Polyphonica Opus III in the large main gallery downstairs also featured works from the Henry Collection in a kind of call and response between the curator and the asst curator. Based on perceived or invented links or similarities between diverse art forms. A great variety and themes there. Again we couldn't quite get it but enjoyed it nonetheless.
Upstairs was some pretty far out pieces on the theme of taking visual images and juxtaposing them or exploring them to the extreme. Pulling out meaning and context not first perceived. Including some 70s pictures of built landscapes always including the surrounding landscapes.
I try to do some of these things on this blog. Being mindful of things all around me, pulling out things in my (and your) daily life which deserve mention. That are more that what they seem. Which reflect hidden assumptions. That tell more. Richly.
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