On Looking

so I took an epic walk around the city, as I am wont to do. I love a good walk to clear out the cotton and get the blood pumping. thought I'd stroll down and do some looking at the place.

it's also prime people-watching season. we're starting to see a preponderance of shorts and running shoes in our nation's cultural repositories. (see the tour group below, rolling past the White House on their Segways.) looking; it's always a fun activity.

then I needed to look at art. so I headed to the Hirshhorn, my idea of heaven, to look at great modern + contemporary pieces. it was just what I needed. I couldn't stop looking at Fred Sandback's yarn installation. one's perception of the entire space completely changed as you walked around the room and observed it from different vantage points. the work is utterly static yet transforming at the same time. James Turrell's Milk Run (1996) transforms perceptions in a completely different manner, but is equally mesmerizing + effective. see a smattering of snaps below; from the ColorForms exhibit + Laurent Grasso's Black Box works, etc, etc.

when they finally kicked me out, I sat in the Sculpture Garden for an hour, surrounded by art, some post-work couples, tourists, and the refreshing fountain. then I ambled home thinking "art days are good."

all photos taken by me. (top-bottom); White House. Artwork: Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe's Lips (1962), Olafur Eliasson, Round Rainbow (2005), Fred Sandback's incredible yarn installation; Untitled (Sculptural Study, Twelve-Part Vertical Construction), Louise Nevelson, Dream House XXXII (1972), Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #3 (1969), in background + detail, Robert Smithson, Gyrostasis (1968), Hans Haacke, Condensation Cube (1963-2008). National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, fountain.