DaVinci

After having visited the Louvre... I decided I hated the Louvre. Advice for future travelers-- don't go on Sunday when it's free. There is something sacred that is lost when there are people crawling all over every crevice of the building, and I do think that art is supposed to be sacred. We were bossed around and herded like cattle through lines and stairways, can't sit there, no room to stand there. You can't stand, sit, think or breath. I was in utter disgust, but I just looked at the chaos spinning around me and knew that this wasn't the purpose. I felt like hiding my ignominious face because it seemed like the masters of old were going to come with wrath on all who participated in making their pieces debacles, strewn so far from their original purpose. Poor DaVinci, surely if the old phrase were possible, he would be turning flips in his grave, or laughing at us.
Then I was forced to think about what I think the purpose of art is... I don't have a full answer yet, that isn't the point of this. But my feelings for art did change, I suddenly was disgusted not just with the general populace for showing up to this massive palace full of worthy and beautiful paintings and sculptures just to see La Jaconde (Mona Lisa) but also with the world of art in general because there was something very unworthy about the setting that I was in. Is this what it has come to?
It helped me focus my thoughts and my creating towards what the purpose of my art is, whereas for the most part I created for the sake of creating. That's not to say my art doesn't have a purpose or that this was my inaugural thought on the topic but it redirected my focus. So even if I still hate the Louvre and chose to skip the Mona Lisa room I do think it was worth the experience of showing up. (even though we didn't stay long.)