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Bird's Eye View...

 In response to Jen Delos Reyes’ desire to see theanyspacewhatever exhibit at the Guggenheim, I schlepped to New York City in hopes of being her eyes.  Something that has always fascinated me about art, that was demonstrated well in this exhibit, is the different reactions that individuals can have to the same pieces of work.  Theanyspacewhatever exhibit really was just that:  An exhibit that could be whatever you make of it.  If you read Jane’s entry about her experience with theanyspacewhatever exhibit, you would know that she was strongly affected by the Rirkrit Tiravanija’s video installation, Chew the Fat.  The aspect of theanyspacewhatever exhibit that grasped hold of me was Douglas Gordan’s textual installation entitled Prettymucheveryword….  In this piece, Gordan engraved and adorned the walls, corners, nooks and crannies of the Guggenheim with seemingly random, but heartfelt little phrases such as, “I Still Believe in Miracles,” “Everything is going to be alright” and, “I just want to talk with you.”  Being a complete sap and closet inspirational quotation lover, I fell hard for this.  What I found so genius about this aspect of the exhibit was that no matter what a viewer was going through or thinking about, there was a way for them to relate these abstract phrases to something going on in their personal life.

Just as Jane and I both loved this exhibit for different reasons, every person who walked through the upwards spiraling show was given something unique and meaningful to take away from it.  When it comes down to it, isn’t giving the viewer an experience of their own one of the main points of art?

Here’s a little something so that you can all feel like you were there with me…