A Stupid Quote From A Semi-Important Person

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: where souls become obese.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: where souls become obese.

From an old old article, but I came across this line from the newest (?) director of the MET, Thomas Campbell:

In an age of instant media and visual overload, there is something profoundly nourishing to the human soul when you come face-to-face with an object, whether it is the product of a lifetime of craftsmanship or something more ephemeral;…

I don’t think he’s talking just about art; he’s talking about everything physical, though I realize he’s basically just promoting the product under his charge.

I come in contact with objects every day, when I’m not blinking or sleeping. Maybe you do, too. Our souls must be so backed up they’re getting sepsis.

EDIT: Was thinking about this quote in fits and starts all day. There is a difference between sensing objects in real space as opposed to second hand, as in a photo of an object on a computer screen, but this distinction is mostly extra-sensory. Our eyes don’t distinct much between seeing the actual Mona Lisa at the Louvre and a digitized photo. We distinguish the two sets of sense data by mostly authority from others…that we actually boarded a plane going to Paris and are actually at the Louvre. There is some play with sensing the room of the Louvre to confirm being face-to-face with the actual Mona Lisa and not a computer screen.

I want to say something about the experience of art being based primarily upon the knowledge and opinion of others but that would make this post too much longer.

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