Why Art Matters

The quickest way to get from A to B is to wait twenty minutes for the express train while five locals fly by, any of which would have wound up at the destination in twenty minutes. Logic.

Despite my subway snafu, Eddie and I made our way to City Hall Park to enjoy the Public Art Fund's

Oh, actually, on our way there, we found some other art at a construction site:

THEN we made our way to City Hall Park. And immediately, we were enjoying the art. "Enjoying" here means looking at, gawking at, taking pictures of, pondering, making snide comments about, being confused by, questioning, and then actually enjoying.

Some of the art was inventive.

New Beaches, Justin Matherly, 2012

Some of the art was eerie. (Eddie was like, what's that woman staring at? Then we walked over and were like, ohhhhh).

Common Ground, Christian Jankowski, 2012

Some of it was slightly creepy. To make it less creepy, we did this:

Memorial For Unknown Artist, Thomas Shutte, 2011, and Eddie 2012

Some of it was good, old-fashioned fun.

Now, Speak!, Amalia Pica, 2011, and my head.

Daddies Ketchup, Paul McCarthy, 2001, and me

Some was really cool. This sculpture is a profile turned 360. If you look at the profile of it, you see the artist's profile, which I thought was really amazing, but I guess the man sleeping on the bench didn't agree.

Always Anyone, Anywhere, Anything, Anytime and For Any Reason, Matthew Day Jackson, 2011, and sleeping man

Some of the art was sittable, meaning we sat on benches that were art.

Truisms and Memorial Benches, Jenny Holzer, 1987 & 1996

After ten sculptures and a walk around the park, we were feeling the city heat and decided to head back uptown to Times Square where we found ourselve on the big screen.

Seriously, we're in there, right in the middle, both holding cameras at the screen.

Then, based on a hot tip from S, we cooled off at M&M World and met Osi Umenyiora. He's on the NY Giants. That's a football team. I looked up the spelling of his name, which shows how much I actually care about this.

This encounter was your typical Christina-Is-Awkward moment. Eddie stepped up to him and was like, What's up, Champ? They shook hands and made nice while I was handing someone my camera and asking her to take our picture. Eddie asked him where his rings were and he answered that he didn't wear those out. I was like, Oh he was looking forward to seeing them! No one acknowledged that I said anything. Everyone posed for the camera. Then Eddie was like, Win another one for us! And he responded, No doubt! And I collected my camera and dignity and we left. In their defense, they are both over a foot taller than I am so it's quite easy to forget I'm there when you're eye level with someone else.

We met up with S at the candy wall. Some good music came on, so we line danced with the staff of M&M World which included both the yellow and blue M&Ms but did not include Eddie. I know where I belong, and it's not among the tall people but among those who dance.

We left quickly to grab some pizza. Eddie managed to give the wall a taste.

On the train home, we saw our final piece of art, a line drawing that made us laugh.

So why does art matter? It makes a great date. It gives us memories. It allows us to discuss and explore and laugh laugh laugh.