olivetti

The world exclusive, and what will probably be the most successful exhibit in the Denver Museum of Art's history, Becoming Van Gogh, is sold out from now to eternity, despite the addition of new overnight showings. Unless! one becomes a full member of the museum. This is something that my dad wanted to do anyways as he and my mother love visiting art museums, so upon purchasing his membership we learned that two spots magically opened up for the exhibit today. Overwhelming, though, in the amount of paintings in the exhibit but even more overwhelming in the amount of people shoved into the galleries. It didn't take long for my fear of crowds and claustrophobia to set in. A funny thing waiting in line to see paintings, queuing up like herds of beasts. Wonder what Van Gogh would have made of all it? I also wanted to check out a photography exhibit in the old building, up on the seventh floor (which turned out to be a colossal waste of time and space), but, on the way there, shoved into a forgotten wing, hidden around the corner from the elevator as we waited, was the gem of my day: a quaint, fifteen piece exhibit on the significance of Olivetti typewriters. At home, I have a sleek Lettera 35l and I have always been drawn to the machines, not only for practical, writerly use but also as aesthetic objects of beauty. They had a few models I'd seen before, like the brightly-hued and compact Valentine, but also super obscure and even-more sought after pieces. The modern lines are impeccable, pleasing, and bold. The Olivetti nano-exhibit was surely the highlight of the day there.

I love Denver's incredible fostering and valuing of art. Fort Worth certainly has some amazing, world-class, (and free!) museums but what I find alluring about Denver is it's vast public art displays. The public art pieces here are quite numerous and the catalog ranks as one of the best in the country. One could easily spend days trekking around this city taking in all the pieces, both massive and minute.
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Well, I've decided to leave on Monday to head back south to Fort Worth. The onslaught of work and school-related emails is too much to ignore and is taking quite a toll. I must head back to face the music, back to reality. I will still have time, of course, to prepare the necessary syllabi and procure my books and begin the initial readings and so forth but I need time. A lot of time to get ready, mentally and physically, for the big semester that is hastily approaching.