The Art of Slowing Down

I have been craving a visit to an art museum for some time now, but unfortunately my schedule hasn't allowed spare time for an afternoon of wandering.  So, I was thrilled when it was absolutely necessary for me to take a moment and pause to appreciate the Sacagawea Art Collection at Alverno.

I wanted to go with my gut when choosing the piece I would analyze, so I very quickly perused the collection.  I made an effort not to get particularly close to any piece, and viewed each piece for only about 10-15 seconds.  I did also try and keep in mind the idea of, "If I were the recipient of this award, which one would I be most excited to get?"

I enjoyed each piece, but at first nothing really jumped out at me.  I realized I had missed the section of the gallery by the elevators, and as soon as I got close enough I knew which piece was "mine."

The art book by JoAnna Poehlmann is unlike any of the other pieces in the collection.  It spoke to me first because I knew I would have to slow down considerably to read each page.  The script was in cursive, and since some pages were at quite an angle, I really had to crane my neck (and sometimes guess the words) to understand the passage.

What I appreciated most about this piece was that by creating the book, Poehlmann was, in a way, writing a journey log just for Sacagawea.  It is a small piece compared to what I assume are numerous volumes of journey logs created on the Lewis and Clark expedition, but I think that adds to its appeal.  I was excited to move from page to page, and it left me wanting to learn so much more about Sacagawea due to all that has been omitted from the history lessons we were taught in school.

The first of the seven elements of design, as mentioned in White Space is Not Your Enemy, is space.  “Space is a requirement.”(p. 45) This piece, when unfurled, takes up quite a bit of physical space, but in terms of composition, there is a vast amount of negative space.  Keeping each page to one specific entry, the artist allows the viewer focus solely on that event. The entry regarding fish has the least negative space of all, using a crowded page to evoke the feeling of a school of fish.  It also made me think of being in the bug exhibit at a natural history museum, where all the specimens are tightly organized into little drawers.

The element of movement was clearly evident throughout this piece, from the accordion style book fold, to the way the lines of script are arranged on each page, to the artist’s beautifully neat penmanship.  In order to read the entire book, I had to move several feet.  A minuscule distance compared to Sacagawea’s journey, but as I was reading I appreciated that as a viewer, I had to travel my own journey to reach the end of her story.