Rob's the man

Egocentric Eruptions
Robert Brinkerhoff
21st May 2009
6pm

A SUCCESS!!!

Friends

and family

The wonderful work
by the wonderful caterers

From what I understood, the erupting volcano is a metaphor for the self. Egocentric Eruptions seems to tell a story about revealing what is inside a personality as well as how it is perceived and how one wishes to be perceived. Seeing a series is always interesting to me because it views a subject, like the volcano, from different angles.




Today was Rob's show opening. He is our chief critic here on the EHP programme. Click on this, just trust me. Anyway, I wanted to say that it always amazes me to see the Beatrice room in a different setting. The Beatrice Room, sorry, is our multifunctional space where we had art history classes, a casual student show, movie nights, lectures and meetings. It's also used for yoga twice a week and houses beautiful frescoes that I've grown so used to that I don't notice it sometimes. So when they say multifunctional space they really mean it.

It was so refreshing to see Rob's body of work inhabit the space this evening. The mood was light, the company grew gently and the refreshments were made and served with love. Four years ago, before college, openings were an rare occasions. Since RISD started it has become so common for me to attend openings. Almost every Tuesday there is an opening for some show in some gallery on campus. In Rome this semester we get emails multiple times a week notifying us of the different show openings in town.

It's important to step back sometimes. A show opening is a big deal. It's a celebration of efforts and passion directed to a theme or feeling and expressed with a medium. Visual art is a silent performance and a show opening is the closest thing to a spotlight for an artist. So the next time you go to an opening, think about these things. It would not hurt to steal a moment with the artist. Well, if you want to.