Quintessence and Quietude
“Transformation isn’t sweet and bright. It’s a dark and murky, painful pushing. An unraveling of the untruths you’ve carried in your body. A practice in facing your own created demons. A complete uprooting, before becoming.” Victoria Erickson |
Chaos and change are not the same thing, but sometimes it is hard to tell the difference when you're in the midst of it all. Our family was deep in the doldrums created by constant stress and sorrow, and we were adrift. Lost. In danger of sinking. It's amazing how you can live with those you love best in the world and still feel completely alone. Furthermore, being buffeted daily by examples of human cruelty and political injustices was soul draining. So, it was under these conditions, after months of being overloaded and overwhelmed, that we set out on our journey. The first goal of our odyssey was that it was to serve as the final chapter of Sir Talks A Lot's homeschool years.
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We wanted to revel in art and music, healing ourselves and each other as we made an epic journey from Wyoming to New Orleans and then to Meadville to welcome the next phase of Sir's education at his college orientation. We all wanted to capture that intangible element that heals the soul. We all wanted to quiet our personal demons. Most of all, we wanted a chance to circle our wagons against the slings and arrows of outrageous evil in the world.
Denver
We began our trip by revisiting our past. We spent almost a week in Denver with hubby attending a conference at his old university and the kids and I revisiting some of our old favorite haunts. We spent days at the Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Art Museum, wandering around the museums and immersing ourselves in learning and feeling. We went to the phosphorescence exhibit and experienced all of the ways that nature brings light to the darkness and all of the ways that light is used to court darkness for other creatures.
On our final day when we returned to the science museum as a family, we saw an IMAX movie about music. Even the sonorous tones of Morgan Freeman could not fill in the gaps in this entertaining but shallow film which ignored so many influential artists. Still, both the presence and the lack produced lively discussions and tons of listening sessions. Although the clip below were not at all part of the movie, we found them because of it.
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Denver Art Museum |
My favorite Denver day was our time at the art museum. Our goal was to be able to visit every floor, see and do all the things and take plenty of pictures. Once we got in there, however, the art work was so compelling, and there was so much to see that, in spite of our early arrival and staying until the museum closed, we still missed an entire floor. It was fantastic! The kids sketched their impressions of a horse sculpture and made 3D wire art (Lady Chatterly's favorite). Typically, Lady doesn't have much patience when it comes to quiet contemplation, but one of the main exhibits was about animals in art. We listened to fables about animals, explored depictions of animals that ranged from the whimsical to the sublime, and joined a tour to learn all about the art.
Jeffery Gibson |
My favorite exhibit was the last one we saw featuring the work of Jeffery Gibson. I left the exhibit with my head buzzing with thoughts about the personal and the political; voyeurism, cultural appropriation, cultural preservation, and the function of art particularly as pertains to exhibits and exhibition; how popular culture informs and is altered by expression; and the stories of things and how knowing a story changes the perception of the thing.
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I wish I could show you the video that he made. It was truly transformative.
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