Keep going

A few years ago, musician Mike Posner paused every aspect of his professional career to walk across the US. It was a bold decision of epic proportions. Many evenings, after chronicling the day’s efforts on his phone, he would emphatically proclaim: “Keep going!” He was speaking to himself but also to all of us watching his journey. His message was universal and not particular to his adventure. Sometimes laborious efforts of endurance are our own ideas, and sometimes they originate from someone else’s suggestion.

I experienced an installation by Rudolf Stingel at a Milan gallery comprised of not only an untitled painting on the wall but also a carpet work on the floor, the show enveloped me in a space of transcendent elegance coupled with sly humor. These are qualities I seek not just in art but also in life. Art that ignites our senses has a way of making indelible impressions. In the same way that the taste of a specific wine might remind us who we were with, the street sounds, and where we were when we first drank it, images of artworks I’ve experienced help recall the hopes, dreams, and desires I had in the moment I was standing amongst them. Writing about this piece today, I have so much gratitude for all the journeys.