- Location
- Switzerland
- Name
- Matt
Had forgotten about this wonderful song - even though I do own the record.
M.
P.S. The title is fitting - but only to an absolutely bearable degree; after the second Vaccine shot, going to bed early appeals ...
The ergonomics look questionable.
Today we went to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) in Edinburgh on the last day of our two week staycation. There I took a snapshot of this:
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You won't be surprised that the sign was not part of the official art exhibition. It was just a sign at the top of the staircase in between the wonderful exhibition rooms. When I photographed the sign my husband commented that I would take a photograph of anything. He's probably right - I am not disputing that observation - but rushing around the art exhibition today I did ponder the thought that if my photograph of the sign had been printed, then framed and stuck on one of the exhibition walls with a plaque at the side of it stating:
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Briar, b. not yesterday
Please do not touch the artwork, 2021
Photograph on Paper
Gifted to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art by artist
Then bit about life of Briar [you can fill that bit in if you want to with your own creative imagination] to introduce the audience to the [con] artist.
Please do not touch the artwork is both a photograph of a sign and a sign in itself. Despite the means of simple execution, the work makes a harsh statement about art, during the pandemic, being socially distant, out of reach and out of bounds to the audience.
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would any of the audience at the exhibition today really have noticed that my "art work" did not belong there had it been placed on the wall?
I think it was Ted Forbes from the Art of Photography who commented that when people go to exhibitions and look at art work the average time that the audience looks at an individual piece of work is just 3 seconds. That was the pre-pandemic average. During the pandemic where restrictions to the numbers of people being allowed into the exhibition at any one time and the limited time allocated to each individual to view the whole exhibition during their visit to ensure social distancing is maintained is likely to reduce that 3 second average even further.
This thought went through my mind when I later viewed this painting in the Pop Art section:
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For Sale, 1961 by Billy Apple, b. 1935
I won't bore you with the blurb about the artist, but the harsh statement he was making was about art as a commodity.
I actually enjoyed the exhibition, including Billy Apple's For Sale, albeit it was a bit rushed, no turning back if you wanted a second viewing of a painting you liked. It felt almost like being on a conveyor belt with security guards giving you a polite telling off if you tried to back track at any point.
We were in and out of the exhibition within 45 minutes (which included a toilet break), and back in the city centre again being serenaded (???) by drunk, merry Scottish football fans singing "yes sir, I can boogie" .