searching for great art
people watching, the MET, and awkward dates
When I was 11 I went to the Louvre, and I could care less. The pyramid was cool but I was utterly bored by the art. Other than the shoving match I got to participate in - the rabid tussle of tourists trying to take a photo of the Mona Lisa, the Louvre bored me. So as an enterprising young kid who didn’t yet have access to technology, I did what anyone would do at a museum - I got inspired by the art and immediately started creating my own. I’d like to think that’s why I started drawing, but really it was because all my mom had with her was a small notebook and a pen. So I drew some god-awful drawings and was successfully able to pass the time.
I thought as an adult I’d never go to museums. But I decided to move to NYC, the home of some world-renowned museums that local friends and visiting friends all want to visit. So I have to go to the museums. Most often - The MET. The MET has some really cool pieces: Washington crossing the Delaware, a noble lady holding a decapitated head, some old teaspoons… But after a few visits, I was getting bored, as could be expected. Unfortunately, my Mom doesn’t come with me to museums any longer so I had nothing to draw with. I had to find a new way to pass the time.
Before moving to NYC, I wasn’t familiar with the activity of people-watching. It’s quite common here and I’ve come to enjoy it as well. It sounds a bit creepy, but really it’s observing the world around you. It’s noticing the heated gossip sesh two guys are having after work over Martinis in the west village. Or drinking coffee at the park on Saturday morning and overhearing the two friends on the bench next to you catch up. People watching is like zooming out and viewing the world from the third person, as an observer.
So on my last visit to the MET - my college roommate was in town - I spent my time observing my surroundings more than looking at the art. Here are some of the types of people I observed.
the stoic
In the middle of a typical MET gallery room, there’s an uncomfortable bench or couch of sorts. I frequent these benches to rest my legs - standing and slowly walking is more tiring than one would think. In one of the rooms in the European Painting wing sat a man who looked to be in his late 50s. He sat calmly on the bench staring at the painting in front of him, unmoving, with no reaction. I’ve seen people study paintings before, but this was intense. It was as if he was forming a bond with the painting through his intense vision. As I was exiting the room I heard him make his first movement in the 5 minutes I’d been in the room. I turned back and saw he had pivoted his position slightly to the left, to view the next painting.
the photographers
Seems like almost everyone is a photographer nowadays. As I watched people around me take photos of art instead of experiencing it without technological distractions, I realized I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Maybe there’s some value in taking photos of the art you like. So I tried it out. Throughout the trip I took photos of art I liked. I looked back at these photos a week after and am posting them here. The art looks great, but the photo still feels like a distraction from the art. But to each their own.
the museum date
Not the couple lovingly meandering around the museum more interested in their partner than the art - discussing them would just make me feel how single I am. But the people on a date, typically an earlier date, that come dressed up and with flowers. I saw this one couple first on the steps of the MET. You know where Queen B used to rule. The guy had brought the girl a large bouquet of yellow flowers. He handed it to her and she smiled. As I saw this the first thought that popped into my engineer brain was the logistics of it all. Where would she put the flowers if they were going into the museum? This question seemed to have come up to them as well, as later that night when leaving the museum I saw those same flowers stashed in a bush.
I saw this same couple again in The American Wing by the massive George Washington crossing the Delaware painting. They walked in as I was sitting on the middle bench intensely staring at the painting. It was the grandest painting I had seen that day and I was trying to see if we connected - we did not. I overheard their conversation, not because I was being observant, I wasn’t, I was staring at Washington. But because the guy was very loudly explaining the origin of this painting. The girl was silently listening with the occasional “mhm”. As he continued on it got a bit much for me, I had lost focus on the painting, so I left the room. As I left I could see the girl's expression as she listened, there wouldn’t be a second date. I mean I don’t blame her, mansplaining is so last century.
the sleepwalkers
You walk through the museum, see lots of famous art, and have a good time, but if you think back to it in the future, do you really remember any of the art? This is typically me. This is probably a lot of people. Who can really remember that much art? You can somewhat tell who’s sleepwalking by how they view the art. Their eyes will glaze over a piece, rest for a few seconds, and then move in. Near constant motion - the museum walk. In a way, while a sleepwalker doesn’t experience the art in a focused manner, they experience the museum as a whole, which in its own right is art.
the people watchers
I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, I’m the only person weird enough to do this. There was a small part of me that thought this was true before I went to the MET. But oh was I wrong. This is New York City. I saw so many other people, couples, and groups, people-watching. I overheard people’s observations, saw them look at me, saw them observe me.
Museums are kind of growing on me now. New York has taught me to have a much more flexible mindset. It’s like when the crazy guy charges you on the street or you hear over the loudspeakers that a train’s delayed because it hit someone - it’s NYC, we romanticize it, normalize it, and laugh it off. I feel cliche saying this, but any experience in NYC can be entertaining if you let it.
- Ajay