Saturday, July 4, 2015

Stendhal's Syndrome, parts 4796 - 4799


4796. I still recall the day I was exposed to this illness and the appearance of its first symptoms after a short incubation. It was ten years ago and I was assisting with the installation of a show in a gallery.


4797. A young girl came in, about ten years old; it was her habit to stop by the gallery on the way home from school. She was acquainted with every one in the gallery since she was the daughter of a well-known painter.


4798. Although young, she was nevertheless very familiar with the ways of galleries and often entertained us with her art knowledgeable banter. I was standing next to a long wooden extension ladder that was lying flat on the floor when she came up to me and asked very matter-of-factly, "Whose piece is this?"


4799. She was asking about the ladder on the floor and it immediately struck me that it was very much like a work of art in every way. It lay on the floor at just the right angle to the walls, but even more, it expressed in metaphor, my feelings about my life at that time.

No comments:

Post a Comment