Good Life Tour of the Harn By Christopher Wallack

Medium of the Art

This exhibit was of a "Bazin" cloth from somewhere in Africa, made sometime in the twentieth century by an unknown artist. I feel like seeing this cloth in person helped me appreciate it more for one very distinct reason.Textiles are very difficult to turn into an appreciable piece of art in this day and age, when things can just be screen printed onto a manufactured cotton T-Shirt and be viewed just as beautifully as a hand-made piece. I could imagine the individual that hand made this cloth sitting there and sewing each and every stitch, and it shocked me that they were able to craft something so large and intricate by hand. A picture just doesn't do this cloth justice.

Design of the Museum
Design of the Museum
Design of the Museum

As the above three photos show, the museum itself housed a large variety of landscapes. I was very, very fond of how they would match the artwork to the architecture in the museum; in the first photo you can see wooden flooring and a large open floor plan for the religious and cultural pieces from across many time periods, while in the second photo used modern cubic building structure and minimalism to match the modern art exhibits on display there. However, my favorite parts of the building were the various gardens around the property. The third picture shows one of the central garden walls that I enjoyed so much. Outside of a few pottery pieces and sculptures here and there, these gardens were mostly filled with faded limestone architecture and beautiful flora. I liked them because they gave a perfect place for reflection on what was seen in the Museum. They were beautifully empty, allowing my brain to be filled with thoughts about what I observed on the inside in the exhibits.

Art and Core Values

This sculpture is called "Seated Figure"; it was created by American artist John Storrs in 1927. There wasn't much detail in the description about this piece, so I was left to draw my own conclusions about it's meaning. I thought about how during the time of its making, the female figure was something seen as specially designated; untouchable. I realized that having grown up in a house with all women, I had always respected women as equals, and their bodies as just contemporaries to mine. However, I never once thought of them as a prize. I think Storrs made this sculpture without a head, face, or hands to display the dehumanization and prization of the female body during his time. This bias even continues today in many ways, and it is something that live every day to defeat.

Art and Core Values

This painting is called "Jefferson Market Courthouse"; it was created by British artist Francis Criss in 1935. This painting is of a real location in the U.K. called Greenwich Village. The purposeful lack of people, cars, carts, and activity in the painting is purposeful in showing off the beauty of the Gothic Architecture in the building. This painting is a literal interpretation of "Stop and smell the Roses", as in the description of this work it was revealed that Criss made this to illustrate something beautiful that is walked by and ignored every day in this town. In my personal view of the good life, enjoying the little things, the unnoticed things, the everyday things is a hallmark of what I believe is the good life. In a modern comparison, we are so busy looking down on our phones, we usually miss things that we should be thankful for everyday. Truthfully, one of my favorite art pieces I have ever seen.

Credits:

ALL PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER WALLACK

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