Modern Art.

One of the exhibits that we viewed while we visited the museum in Dallas had several rather...interesting...pieces. For instance, there was a long cable hanging from the ceiling, and at its end was a black electric fan. It was set on 'High', and it blew merrily around in lazy circles. Nothing more. Just a fan, blowing around over our heads.

One room could only be accessed through a long, prismatic tunnel, made of triangular panels of reflective plexiglas. I enjoyed the play of lights and colors in the tunnel...everything was quite pretty. A bright yellow glow seeped into the end of the tunnel, and as we stepped into the room, it was like stepping onto another planet. The room was empty, save for the yellow incandescent lights in the ceiling.

It was the oddest thing...in that bright yellow illumination, all other colors were rendered in black and white. Wow. After getting accustomed to the room, the yellow tint seemed to disappear, and we all looked like players in a silent movie. Very interesting.

The next room was a circular, translucent plexiglas enclosure. I figured that it was another play on light, and I was correct. When we walked in, everything looked normal. The enclosure was white. Slowly, it shifted to pink...and then red. Just as I got accustomed to the red, it shifted into green. Everyone was The Hulk! It continued to shift to other colors. That was just a bit too much for me...it made me quite queasy, so I had to make a break for it. The museum security guard smiled and chuckled at me as I wobbled by. Apparently, she had seen this reaction before.

There were other pieces, including a series of identical squares that were different colors. Ever see something and think, 'Heck, I could do that!'? I had one of those moments looking at those different colored squares. I know that many of the pieces were supposed to evoke emotions in the viewers, and that different viewers are affected differently. Where some would be inspired, or joyful, others might be repulsed, fearful, or even completely unaffected. I like that about art. Not only is every piece of art an individual expression of emotion, intent, and magic from within an artist, but it can bring out emotions that the viewer did not know were there, an infinite number of different responses, thoughts, and feelings.

Once, in my distant past, I thought I would take up oil painting. I'd been watching Bob Ross on his show 'Joy of Painting', and he made it look sooooooooo EASY!!! I taped one of his shows that showed a painting that I thought I could manage, and made a list of supplies. The Hobby House, unfortunately, did not have the first necessity, "Liquid White". You're supposed to cover the canvas with it before you start. Apparently, this makes all the other paints act the way that they're supposed to...the way that they do on Bob's show. More or less, anyway. I bought what I thought was a decent substitute, but it did not work. At all. I thought I could hear Bob Ross laughing at me the whole time. I did the best I could, but wow, what an absolute failure that was! Even so, the process was a lot of fun.

I'm thinking that I'd like to try it again. I don't have any ambitions about being in a museum someday...that would be ridiculous. I don't know that I would be attempting to express some inner emotion, either. At the very least, though, I would like to produce a pretty scene on canvas. I'll keep you posted.