She - Taylor Smith

This past weekend I made a trip down to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the Silence and Time exhibit, wherein contemporary pieces inspired by John Cage's 4'33" are showcased. Now, before I get to the actual reflection, I have to get this off my chest: I am not, and have never been, a fan of modern art. I've taken art history classes, been to more modern art exhibits than I can count, and even dabbled in non-representational studies of my own all in an attempt to grasp an understanding of contemporary art, but nothing ever seems to elicit an appreciation for it.

Cliché as it may sound, though, when I saw She, the towering, 6-foot onyx sculpture created by Serbian artist Bojan Šarčević, I have to admit I was surprised at how much I ended up appreciating it. Although at first glance it looked like a giant slab of drab, dull, and boring, I stopped to admire its immensity (and, as a bonus, the beautiful contrast and colors), then actually stood to ponder its meaning as it applied to the exhibition (which is quite the feat for me). While one side of the sculpture is bright, polished, and geometrically cut, as you tiptoe around to peek at the back, it's like looking at a raw, ugly, and uncut face of stone, something which surprises you like a slap in the face. The stark difference in the quality of the two sides speaks to the theme of Time, where one side represents the natural, first-born beauty of a material, and the opposing side represents how now in modern times man shapes the material to fit his own materialistic ideal. 

Although the piece was only constructed in 2010, I felt as if it had already lasted 10,000 lifetimes; I felt so meek in the face of such glory!  Being the nerd that I am, I immediately related the sculpture to the monolith of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I felt She had some wonderfully inspiring, deep meaning to it, but being the young, naïve person that I am, I can never understand such a meaning. The only thing I could think to do in an attempt to catalyze some sort of understanding was to stand silently and admire it, thus connecting She to the other theme of the exhibition: Silence. While it certainly was not quiet in the actual exhibition room, I felt an internal tranquility as I attempted to analyze the story of She.

Walking in, I hadn't expected much from the exhibit, being a fan of classical art and styles. But, She seemed to be a beautiful, geometric sculpture silently waiting, and waiting, and waiting to be completed. I very easily felt the nature of the whole exhibition draw itself together in this single piece of art, and walking out of the DMA, I could feel my appreciation for modern art grow marginally. It'll take a lot to immensely change my opinion on contemporary, abstract art, but She did quite a bit to catalyze that change.