Courtney Derr -- Assignment #1

It was very intriguing attending Professor Sue O'Donnell's exhibition. Upon walking around the room, starting at the entrance, I found that each specific work seemed to be able to relate with the other works. The whole performance is an unsolved puzzle ready to be connected, metaphorically speaking. Looking at each work of art is another piece of the puzzle accomplished.

The first work was located near the entrance of the room. It was a glass jar containing cut-out cloud looking pieces. Hanging on the wall next to it was a series of two "thought" maps. The first had pieces cut out of it, which explains the jar of thoughts. Where the thoughts had been removed, the writing was blurry. The other hanging work was very similar to other, however no pieces were removed from this work. It was a completed map of thoughts and ideas. The next work of art was rows of squares that made up one large square. On some squares appeared pictures of what seemed to be childhood family, friends and memories. The rest had writing that captured a certain feature or memory of the artist. Next to this work was a series of framed disheveled thoughts. The first relation I made was to a clothes line of thoughts, the clothes being crumpled). On the other half of the room appeared several pictures, each showing a glimpse of a whole picture, breaking it down so the details can be more easily studied. The main subject was a very young girl running in a grassy scene. After this was a work that science fanatics may have found somewhat clever. It was a scientific table by the looks of it, but rather than elements was life experiences and emotions. There were more connective thought maps after the table. Then I saw a circular path of the same components used in the periodic table, followed by a time-line connecting these elements.

This particular piece of art located at the bottom of this writing gave me a spark of reminiscence. Although the memories and photographs were not mine, I was able to relate to the idea the author may have been sending out. For example, one of the squares shared an aspect of the author-how they were always good at pretending. This made me feel similar to the artist. Not to sound cliché, personally this piece as a whole is very touching.