Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Untitled

Last week, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago with a friend of mine. Between 5pm and 8 pm, the entry is free though us turning up at that time was more coincidental than penury. Also, our visit to the art museum itself was due in part due to our lack of decision making skills and in part to it being closest to the train station. Everyone knows that art is like beauty. It is all in the eyes of the beholder. Here too, there were some pieces that I could stare at for a long time, one in particular, a painting of a rainy English day. There is also the Modern Art section which leaves me wondering why I didn't preserve all my drawings and scribbles from my childhood. One modern installation did leave me impressed though. On the floor were drawn 4 squares, with pennies strewn randomly into them. Depending on where the pennies lay, the boxes were labelled, 'All are in', 'All are not in', 'Some are out' and 'Some are not out'. Simple yet profound!

But despite all the interesting paintings, sculptures, and modern art, the ones that really leave me tickled are the pieces that are "Untitled". In my opinion these should never find their into any museum. I mean, if the artist himelf/herself did not know what it is he/she was making, then believe it was never meant to be displayed in the first place. It was probably one of the hundreds of rough works the artist did, and while I have no objection in these being used for scientific study of the artisits' style, it certainly should never be displayed publicly. Ofcourse, I ended the day with a good slice of pizza at Giordanos.

Click here... to see my pictures of Chicago.