Medium and Technique
As far as technique and medium is concerned, I was most impressed by the Jade pieces in the Asian art section. Jade is an extremely beautiful medium. I love the different shades of blue and green present in each piece. However, it is a form of stone. This must be extremely hard to work with yet, the artists did an amazing job. Each piece was so perfect and contained so much detail. My favorite piece by far was the jade heart. The reason I felt it was so cool was because it was a human heart modeled out of jade. However, the veins and arteries that would usually extend from the heart were replaced with long plant leaves. It created the image of plants growing out of a human heart. This was one of the most unique pieces of art I have ever seen.
Design of the Museum
The design of the museum was really cool and practical. Overall, the museum made a circle. Therefore, you were able to start in any direction and end up seeing every exhibit the Harn had to offer. I also very much appreciated the gardens placed around the museum. Some gardens were basic, others were unique gardens I rarely get to experience. My favorites were the water garden located in the back of the museum and the rock garden located on the north side. These were both located off of the Asian section of the museum.
In fact, the Asian wing was my favorite spot in the museum. I loved the way they used a lot of natural wood and Asian style lighting. When you walked in, you knew right away that the art was of a different culture. The exhibit was designed to be very open. The whole room was wood and the back wall was filled up with windows looking over the water garden. I actually felt a little like I was in Asia.
Art and Core Values
Right when I walked into the Harn, the first piece that really caught my attention was the angelic statue. It is a beautiful piece. The angle is white and she is decorated with lavish golden clothes. There are also different colors brilliantly placed throughout the gold to add just the right amount of contrast. This piece really spoke to the religious side of me. I do believe in heaven and angels, and this was a reminder of what is waiting for me after this world. It was really cool to have an art piece speak to me on that level.
Art and the Good Life
When I was walking through the Harn trying to find a piece that referred to the Good life, I stumbled across this statue of Vajravarahi. She is believed to be somewhat like the female version of the Buddha. She represents wisdom and she is supposed to dispel delusions. She is enlightened and helps others stay focused on the path. This truly speaks to what I think to be the Good Life. She is enlightened and bears a lot of wisdom. She then uses this wisdom to help others deal with the delusions and distractions of life. I believe the Good Life is being satisfied and happy with what you have accomplished and using what you learned along the way to help others achieve the same. That is exactly what Vajravarahi represents. Therefore, in my opinion, no other piece in the Harn spoke about the Good life the way this piece did.
Credits:
all photos taken by myself in the Harn Art Museum