When Libby Farr, professor of art and interior design at Marylhurst, came to speak with our class about Roman architecture, one thing that she said stood out to me above all else:
Don’t forget to look down.
She wanted to stress that when we are immersing ourselves in Roman architecture, there will be so much to take in and process that we may find ourselves skimming, looking up at the ceilings or around at statues and paintings. But she implored us not to ignore what’s below our feet – usually beautiful, intricate floor mosaics like this one.
Images like this make me think of what would be possible – what wondrous capacities we all would have for art-making – if we shied away from distraction and turned toward engagement, toward creation. The hands which laid these tiles are no different from our hands, from my hands. The only difference is that we don’t create space in our culture for masterpieces, especially time-consuming ones. We want beautiful things but we want them instantaneously. We want ease and convenience and we want constant distraction, usually in the form of technology.
Let us not forget to look down; let us not shy away from making beautiful, time consuming things; let us not forget what our hands are capable of.
Wine and Wallflowers 