Another Friday, another opportunity to have a great day.  My boss has an out-of-office appointment, so I flip to the events calendar.  Once again, I’m in luck.  10 a.m. is a tour of the new Douglas Gordon exhibition.  I know nothing about him, either personally or as an artist.  I work at a museum and know very little about art, but I’d argue that that’s what keeps me fascinated.  I attend every lecture/tour that I can, even the ones I’m sure I’m not going to like.  What’s awesome is that, merely by learning about an exhibition, I find an appreciation I did not have before. 

Douglas Gordon is a Scottish artist whose work is rich with meaning.  Opposites are a thing for him, that’s clear, but there are so many themes that are obvious in his work, it would be impossible to list them all.  And the curators that spoke about it did such an amazing job.  I have to admit, though, that I am partial to our media arts team, as they are so inspired by what they are doing… it’s a guaranteed good time to go hear them speak.  Today was no exception, as both curators wove a tale of memory and illusion.  What’s really funny about the work is that there is no pattern.  In fact, the only rule from the artist was that there could be no pattern in the set-up.  The curators told us this, with a smile fixed on their faces.  If you look around, you can see no pattern… And what’s great is there is no pattern… There’s no pattern, I swear! 

The media arts galleries themselves are small, but it made the work so vivid.  I’d recommend standing in that room for hours on end.  It was true of the last exhibition there (my favorite of all time) and now the Douglas Gordon piece.  If only Boy had the time to hang out with me in a dark gallery…