A Moment of Art

Cathi and I went to the Bellagio to see the exhibition there. They were showing modern super abstract guys like Warhol, Lichtenstein and Stella. I loved it, though I kind of hoped I wouldn't. Especially something so non-referential. Anyway, after spending about an hour just staring at solid colored geometric shapes, cupe sculptures and soup cans, we stopped by the flower exhibit. You may or may not know that Mandalay Bay always has an exhibit using flowers near the entry of the casino. It's always amazing. This time, they had made a ferris wheel and then used millions of brightly colored flowers to accent the summer scene.

It was amazing, but it might have been more amazing to me because of the time I spent in the art gallery first. You see, I focused so hard on the paintings, which were huge, and tried to experience every color, every nuance, every brush stroke. I think I had really turned all my senses on. Then, going to the flower exhibit, I felt like I saw twice as much as I would have otherwise.

The above picture is some "white" flowers. Normally, I would have just accepted them as white. This time, I really looked at them and saw, that they are not white, but are a bunch of colors. We just sense it as white. I experienced more textures, nuances and smells at the flower exhibit this time than I have the other times I have gone.

What's my point? The abstract, sometimes blotchy and bizarre art that is oft times ridiculed is actually very functional. While it doesn't make us think of trees, happiness or love necessarily, it does remind us of the elements of all our perceptions. It makes you look at the elements of a flower, the veins on a leaf, the subtle variations of color in someone's hair, whereas you usually take a shortcut and call them "white", "green" or "brown". My senses were heightened and I experienced life at a much higher resolution that day than on most others. That makes the art well worth it.