Being

Over the weekend, I went to the Chihuly exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. It's an exquisite show, very representative of Chihuly's genius with glass. Mille Fiori almost had me in tears, the work is so beautiful. Float and Ikebana Boats seems rather humourous, and left me giggling a bit. I would recommend seeing this show to anyone who has the opportunity to do so. One of the things that struck me about the show was the people who came to see it. The vast majority had some sort of electronic device in their hand, either a smart phone or tablet camera, and were viewing the work through the device. I realise they were taking pictures, but I was mildly disturbed that they were so deliberately and enthusiastically putting something between themselves and the works. These were beautiful pieces, and people were looking at them on a screen while in the same room. It was just so odd. The work was right there, and people were striving to look at it on a small screen. I felt the need to just be with the work, just experience it live. I took a few pictures myself, and very deliberately put my phone back in my bag each time I was finished, in order to facilitate just being with the work. I very likely have a lot fewer pictures than others, but I am pleased with the experience. Are we losing something in always putting these screens between ourselves and whatever is going on? I'm not saying get rid of them. I'm questioning how often we pull them out to record whatever is going on instead of just experiencing what is going on.