Silent Revolutions

You know that "Do one thing every day that scares you" mantra? I went there. Boy, did I go there. I signed up to be a guide at an art exhibit of abstract art right here in Leuven. It's on all summer, in Tweebronnen as well as the Botanical Garden (Kruidtuin) and I'm currently plowing through all the info I've found & have been given on the 13 artists. Page after page of bios, interviews, profiles and I'm Sharpie-ing my way through all of it in fluorescent blue (Can ya tell I'm not done being a student? The idea is that groups can sign up for a personal tour, after which the organization tracks down a volunteer who's available and willing to slip into her Chancart t-shirt (remarkably cute for being green).

I might die a little bit the first time I get a group of visitors handed to me. But it's something I want to try out - I've been kicking around the idea of working in a museum setting for a while now, so I figure this is a good way to get my toes wet. 13 artists, slightly more pieces, set up throughout the two sites. Some I think are phenomenal, like the Christoph Fink travel inventories. Others, to me, cross the line from abstract & quirky into "Jesus Christ, are they serio...oh, you're the artist? Hey, look, about the laughing and the pointing and the fishhook eyebrow and the mimicking a nasal huffy socially maladjusted French person, I didn't mean anything by that. No, really, that's umm...my art face. I can't help it. It's how I deal with the overwhelming depth of your...Oh man, don't make me say "piece"...piece". I'm working on finding something sincerely positive to say about each one - betcha I can do it.

In addition to the exhibit, the Silent Revolutions team is organising a few sideline events. July 21st through 23d, SR is joining forces with Cinema Zed in showing 3 open air films in the botanical gardens: "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (genius, could watch it a million times, one of those movies that always seems applicable and relevant and strikes the perfect balance between tough and tender), "Little Miss Sunshine" (only one I haven't seen, supposed to be awesome and really, can you ever go wrong with Toni Colette?) and "The Village" (Saw this when it came out, the fact that I, who never ever catches on to these things, had the plot figured out within the first 15 minutes means either my popcorn was sprinkled with crack instead of salt OR the movie jusn't wasn't very cleverly done. On the other hand: Joaqui-hee-heen Phoenix. Yum.) So if the abstractness is a bit too "Wait, so you're saying it's the ambivalence of meaning or the absence of ambivalence?" for you, come in to watch a movie & take a look around. No tour guide telling you where to go & what to see, just a walk through the worlds of 13 creative minds. Worth your time, I promise.