art and nostalgia

My little sister was just visiting NYC and her visit made me nostalgic for times gone by. There is so much to say about NYC, but one of the things that will always stick in my memory are the museum trips with friends.

When you made Cadet pay, something cheap in the city was always nice, and the NYC museums often gave discounted, or free, admission to Soldiers. We'd arrive at museums with names we barely knew and just see what was there.

There was History, Physics, Astronomy--Modern Art, Ancient Art, Greek Art--we found the Cloisters and the MoMA and various theaters (I know...not museums, but still ART!) large and small. I saw a really cool production of The Manchurian Candidate as well as some other pretty amazing things.

The Tate Modern is in London and not NYC, but it reminded me of the experiences I had. Stumbling upon amazing exhibits and eye-opening things is something that happens very often in big cities, and not as often elsewhere. Currently at the Tate, there is an exhibition titled, "The Unilever Series: Ai WeiWei" I do not know the full extent of the exhibition, but part of it is 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds painted by the artist, I believe, by hand.

I'm not sure why the images moved me, but they did. The idea of paining them all seemed very cathartic and repetitive, in a good way. It reminded me of Christos Running Fence wherein a repetitive element in art can become for the viewer and the artist, a mantra that draws one closer to the art, closer to nature, and closer to himself.

I don't know if that was the artists intent, nor does it matter to some degree, but what's important is--well, I don't know what's important to you, but what's important to me is--go to a Museum! Go to one now, if you can, and if not, plan to go to one soon! And, if you don't live near a museum, find your beauty elsewhere. Such as Tucson, which is a veritable treasure trove of small beauty.

OK, that post was random and rambling, but I was thinking about it, so I typed it. Such is life.