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The Art of Serendipity
I was in a bank recently and as I approached the counter, the tellers were all fixated on a new painting from a local artist hanging on one of the walls. Some of the tellers were standing close to it, others from a distance behind the counter. Each of them was transfixed on deciphering all the shapes. One of the tellers nearby was quite stunning, so I made every effort to sound artistically insightful around her.
It was a large piece, several feet by several feet. The shapes and figures were mostly recognizable, but not completely. For instance, some people saw a jazz band, like myself. A golden saxophone, cello and the suits stood out most prominently. Then, one of the tellers pointed to a potential drum set and, after looking more intently, I concurred. However, I “saw” too large of a drum set because then she pointed out three heads of people sitting in the front row. I completely missed them as did she at first glance. We thought the “head” in the bottom left hand corner was the kick drum…
We had a good laugh about that one.
Turns out, it was a painting of a jazz band. One of the tellers was told so by the artist himself. Still, as the tellers informed me (and as I experienced personally), everybody had their own interpretation of the painting and/or some of the distorted shapes. People were still seeing different things here and there. Not everybody saw the jazz band, but then others did see the three heads of people in the front row.
Either way, the painting is very cool, it’s hanging inside a nice bank and the artist successfully sparked a conversation about his work.
Win-win-win.
Interestingly, the journey to finding the “girl of our dreams” is much like looking at a beautiful painting. Most everybody sees the obvious beauty, but it takes that one special, right person to discover how and why it’s (she’s) a masterpiece.
The first step, in some situations, is casually starting a conversation with a stunning bank teller despite the crowded presence of her fellow female tellers, perhaps about a piece of art hanging inside a bank. Then, it’s about asking her out to dinner as smoothly as the strokes of paint in a prominent wall decoration.
Afterwards, maybe she’d find it fun to catch a set at a jazz club…
If so, talk about life imitating art.
Happy Monday!
Last Friday evening, I strolled through the annual Columbus Arts Festival, which featured artists of all variations from all over the country (plus a couple international artists). Each artist’s booth was set-up like its own pop-up gallery, giving people a few seconds to glance in and either dedicate their time or simply walk by onto the neighboring collections.
I’m happy to say I struck gold with a painter from Chicago! She imaginatively brought bottles of red and white wine and its accompanying foods to life.
The Columbus Arts Festival is a great tradition in Columbus, just like the occasional visit to a museum. The opportunity to calmly observe, reflect, ponder and even show off some knowledge is a wonderful exercise of the mind.
Common protocol with most art is the notion that there is no one “right” answer. Although, with some art, as Hemingway might put it today, “if you have a good insight it’s because it is an honest insight.”
In Gil’s case, he knew the honest truth and therefore was absolutely right in his interpretation in the rarely seen, “art burn.”
Have a Great Week & Visit a Museum!
Jimmy's Daily Planet 