Saturday, July 17, 2010

Christo, art, and his umbrellas

I have no clue about art. (editor: ahem, do you have a clue about anything, for that matter?)
But, I tell people that I appreciate art in my own way, which is nothing but yet another version of Justice Potter Stewart's comment "I know it when I see it."  Well, that itself is nothing but an iteration of the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Anyway, I know it when I see the beauty in art!  And I did see one unique piece of art--Christo's umbrellas.  I lived in Bakersfield, and remember going up to Gorman to look at one of the umbrellas up, close, and personal.  And to stand under it because of the bright and hot Sun :) ... I should note that the photo here is not mine, but one I found on Flickr--this too is from Gorman.

The neatest thing about Christo's umbrellas was that the art was an experience.  Because, unlike a painting that might hang in a museum for centuries, Christo's umbrellas were temporary.  I liked that Buddhist sand mandala approach of his to remind ourselves of the temporary lease we have on this planet.  I would like to think that it was more than mere art.
(Why the note on Christo? All because of this!)

Say, all that talk about umbrellas remind me of Rihanna's hit number :)

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