Art in Real Life

 When I first started at BYU, I wanted to become an art curator which was I why my original major was Art History. I love art. Love it. Even though I changed my course of study, art is still an important part of my life. 

I lived in Slovakia two summers ago as an intern and got to travel on the weekends, which meant that I spent most of my weekends in art museums seeing the famous works I studied for semesters. As much as I loved studying about art in my classes and seeing the paintings projected onto massive screens, nothing compares to seeing the works in person.

The most notable experience I had was with the painting The Kiss by Gustav Klimt in Vienna, which is one of my all-time favorite works of art.

I've always loved the beautiful colors, textures, and emotion depicted in the piece, so I was so excited when I found out that it was housed in a city only 30 minutes from where I was living. 

I was so not prepared for what it would be like to see it in person. 

When I first walked into the room where it was held, tears immediately jumped into my eyes. I couldn't hold them back, which I know sounds a little crazy, but it was so beautiful. No camera, no scan, and no recreation could possibly capture the beauty of The Kiss seen in person. The painting is massive and so detailed. All of the gold in the painting is actually gold leaf. The way it softly reflected the light of the room was indescribable. To this day, I would say that this is one the best days I ever spent traveling.

I had similar experiences in museums all over Europe with works that were really only possible to fully appreciate in person. It got me thinking about modern technology. We live in a time of unprecedented access to information. We can see photos of animals that live on far off continents, we can learn about the inner workings of the brain from the comfort of our couch, and we can view works of art that haven't left the museums in which they are kept for over a hundred years. 

However, I worry that—in our exposure to all of these things via the internet—we lose the value of the real thing; we become complacent with where we are and lose the wanderlust that lets us experience all of these things in person. No matter how detailed the photo, no matter how in depth the documentary, seeing a lion on a screen is not the same as seeing one in its natural habitat. You will never know how it feels to be stared at by a massive predator (even from the safety of a safari vehicle), or really just how loud a lion's roar is until you experience it for yourself. Just like seeing a work of art the way the artist intended it to be seen will be a completely different experience.

While it is so amazing that we can learn about all of the things in our diverse world from the internet, we can't forget how important it is to experience it in real life.