4.09.2025

For once I don’t linger in the contemporary section though there are a lot of artists I like and recognize down there. Frank Stella’s Moby Dick series I’ve seen in other museums and it’s always hard to ignore. Also a Calder fan and I get a little thrill at the shadows of leaves on the floor before looking up to see one of his mobiles hanging over half the gallery.

Guard asks me to swing my shoulder bag around so it’s in front like a bulky hip pack. It's important, he explains, not to knock into anything and cause a catastrophe. I go forth so arranged.

Stargazing. This is only a couple of rooms and the theme is unclear. I mean there are some stars, references to constellations, and big rocks I assume are from outer space or somewhere near there.

A 'Seat of the World' piece that’s a literal chair resting on a big marble painted to look like a globe. Bookcase extending from a tall divining rod. Painting of a cage or maybe a grounded parachute.

I really don't know what I'm looking at.

Maybe the whole exhibit is a conceptual piece - you're supposed to make your own connections between elements, like picking out asterisms in the night sky. An experiential collage. A walk-in puzzle.

Or maybe that's enough art and I should go find a hockey game to look at. I look out at the rain, calculate how long it will take me to walk back, err on the side of more art for now.