A lot has happened since my last blog entry. I went to Canada. Twice, actually. Once with my roommate, as a last hurrah to see the Falls before summer, and one with the art club here at school, to see the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Talk about art! For real, let's talk about it. I was in awe of this gallery's selection. From Warhol to Monet, Moore to Poussin, Dali to van Gogh, they really did have it all. And a bunch of the work was contemporary or modern, which was very exciting for me, because I love that stuff. There were 5, (FIVE!) floors of artistic brilliance in this building. I spent 9 (NINE!) hours looking at it all. And I still feel like I passed a majority of it by too fast. Or not at all. By the time I left, I had a headache from analyzing so much art for so long. (Sure, by the time I left it was 5, and I hadn't eaten since 8, so that probably had something to do with it too, but I'm sure all the art was a major factor too.)
I have found a new passion for my passion this year.
Art is something that requires so much intelligence and planning and individuality and hard work and... skill... that it really gets me when it's not appreciated. I just paid 8 dollars and saw so many genius images that I feel like I should go back and pay them more money. (Which of course, I will not do, because I am a college student.) It's just that art is so often overlooked, even by artists. It is not just a group of groovy people trying to paint landscapes or portraits and make it look good. Real art isn't something that you can look at for a minute, make an executive "I like it!" nod and move down the wall. It's so much deeper than that, so much more personal. Art should be invigorating. Art sends a message to it's viewers. It's sometimes satisfying, sometimes disturbing, sometimes confusing, or offensive, or persuasive. It takes artists years to finish pieces. Years. Sometimes decades. Most times artists don't have enough time to finish them. When I left the AGO, I wanted (1) food, because I practically unconscious, and (2) to change the world through art. When I find the words to adequate describe my thoughts on this subject, I'll come back to it. Or maybe I'll just start creating.
You should be relieved to know that the little group I was with did find some food. There were four of us, Pam, Justin, Nick and I, and I think out of everyone from Roberts we were the last to leave the gallery. Many people wanted to walk around Toronto, go shopping, sight-see, etc. and left before we did. By the time we left, however, all of those things were coming second to one thing: an adequate meal. The four literally starving artists walked a block or two from the AGO to Chinatown, and wandered the streets looking for any sign NOT in Chinese or French that indicated some sort of food, which seemed to take FLIPPING forever! I think I entered two barber shops and at least one stand of knock-off purses before we finally found a sign that said that glorious word: Restaurant.
Once we got inside, however, I'm pretty sure all four of us immediately wanted to leave. It looked like a palace inside here, folks. A Chinese Palace Restaurant. That's what the sign outside should have said. And why was this a problem? Because we are poor college students, and all artists. This means we buy paint and canvas before a new pair of jeans, let alone spend 481732 dollars on a meal in Chinatown. When we got our menus and there weren't any prices on it, we knew we were sunk. But what can you do at this point? We chose the obvious. LAUGH. We laughed a whole lot. As quietly as possible, I might add. But it was one hilarious situation. Here we were, so hungry we couldn't even think, surrounded by art and mirrors and non-wooden chopsticks (Yes, that is correct. They gave us real chopsticks. Not those wooden ones in paper envelopes. We're not kiddin' around here, folks. I'm pretty sure they were solid gold. Or maybe not.) And after much deliberation and checking of wallets and suppressed giggles, we finally compromised. We drank a pitcher of tea and got one dish, one very small dish (that tasted de-lish) splitting it four ways. That way, we could be polite consumers of this fantastic restaurant, and still not spend our life savings. We ended up, however, just making ourselves MORE hungry by giving our stomachs a tease and by the time we left we felt so awkward for leaving our poor Chinese waiter there without anyone to wait upon. But it was so worth it. Especially when we walked another 2 blocks in the opposite direction and found a Subway. :) By the time we were done eating a full meal, we still had enough time to check out the City Hall, mall, and city scene. SUCH a fun trip.
But ALAS! those days are now over. And we're on to studying for finals. Those wonderfully stressful examinations of your non-comprehensive progress throughout the collegiate year. And after five days of these beautiful puppies, I'm home free! Hmm, Maybe I should start packing?
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