The following article is part of a series of articles chronicling my trip to Dallas in December 2007 in which I discovered a magnificent library, went to a Holiday Extravaganza, and used 9 different modes of transportation in one day. A list of all articles from this series is at the bottom of this article.

On 2007 Dec 15, I awoke to a clear bright morning. For breakfast, I made myself some oatmeal and added some sliced bananas. Today I would be catching my flight to Dallas and had to be wise with my time.

Travelling light was of great value to me that day because once I left my friend’s apartment, I had to haul everything I had wherever I went — there would be no time to return.

Wandering is Good

I caught a bus into downtown, near the train station. When I arrived, I discovered that I was well ahead of schedule, and did what I normally do when I’m in the middle of a large, vibrant city with time on my hands: I wandered. Wandering is a valuable tool in the traveller’s arsenal because it allows spontaneity to enter into the trip and always produces surprises. I didn’t have to wander too far to find something of interest. Just a couple blocks north, I discovered the Minneapolis Public Library. Its architecture was incredibly ambitious, wielding a huge angular roof overhanging the entrance.

After taking this opportunity to photograph a few other interesting pieces of architecture within view, I made my way inside the towering library. Inside, I was greeted with the sight of a long, tall hall spanning the library’s 4 levels, complete with two glass elevators. Before I did anything else, I walked to the opposite end of the expansive hall to get a photo from the other direction: this architecture seemed begging to be photographed.

Robot Shelves

Passing the entrance to the library’s colorful children’s area, I walked up to the front desk and asked for a map. Through talking with the librarian, I learned about strange moving shelves designed to save space. I had been to large libraries before, but had never seen this. He showed me a room filled with moving book shelves that were controlled by 3 buttons on the front of each shelf. Apparently they had been doing this for some time, and I wondered if libraries would be completely robotic someday.

No Athena To Be Found

I decided to ride one of the glass elevators up to the second floor, which was disappointingly very similar to the first floor, except on this floor there was a dignified wooden arch over a glass door, which was locked. Beside the arch, it read “The Minneapolis Athenaeum”. I had never even heard of an athenaeum, so it’s possible you haven’t either. An athenaeum is a specialized library used for literary or scientific study, and it sometimes requires special membership, such as this one did. I peered through the glass and saw nothing especially photo-worthy.

When I arrived at the north side of the library I was greeted with a spectacular view of… a slightly snow covered parking lot. In the distance was a clock tower; and through the magic of a 10x optical zoom lens I was able to snap a decent shot of the clock tower, which, according to my own clock, was actually 3 minutes slow.

Unfireplace

I continued wandering the vast library, and found what I’d like to call an “unfireplace”. An unfireplace is something that looks like a fireplace, but where there should be fire or at the very least wood, there are only rocks. Above the unfireplace was what I can only describe as a wreath of 12 small violins. Yet time was running short, and I had to catch a train soon. I headed back down on a glass elevator, swung the glass door open, and my feet hit the street once more.

It was time to take a train ride.

Check out all of the photos from this event in the Minneapolis Library & Train album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

All articles within the Dallas Trip 2007 series:

The following article is part of a series of articles chronicling my trip to Dallas in December 2007.

A golden statue of exquisite detail held its fingers in a peculiar way, and behind her a cold winter landscape shone through large windows.

This particular statue was in the image of Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion. A bodhisattva is a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others. Created during the Sung Dynasty, the statue was nearly 1,000 years old, and it seemed to contain a hidden meaning that was perhaps lost by being in a western museum.

Where was I to see such a statue? I was standing inside a truly vast fine arts museum: the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I had walked here through a cold wind and past tired neighborhoods. This museum ranked one of the top locations to see while in Minneapolis so I was grateful to be within walking distance. When I opened the museum’s large glass doors, a blanket of warm air engulfed me; and after grabbing a small map, I began to surround myself with things of the past.

The Sunburst

The Sunburst caught my eye first. Being a huge, yellow, blown-glass structure hanging from the ceiling, the Sunburst created by Dale Chihuly in 1999 seemed to infuse creativity into the very space that surrounded it. Later I was surprised to find out that it weighed approximately 3,000 pounds — over 1,300 kilograms, and after exploring the area around the Guan Yin statue, I headed over to the Sunburst again. Now that I was on the second floor, I could photograph it more closely.

The Vast Museum

Satisfied, I continued wandering through the museum. As I wandered, the museum seemed to go on forever and I began to realize how vast it truly was. Later, I learned that the campus stretches across 8 acres of land and features an encyclopedic collection of approximately 80,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of world history. In one afternoon, one can only scratch the surface of a place so vast.

Not far from the glass sculpture, I entered a Garden Room where a Chinese rock garden stood with huge, perforated limestone rocks from the Chiang-nan region of China. A sign inside the room explained that these towering T’ai-hu stones represent The Great Mountains of the Universe. The entire room seemed to radiate serenity and peace, and the stones felt ageless. The museum had even fashioned a kind of stone doorway into the Garden.

Ancient Artifacts

Continuing on, I found some truly ancient works of art, including a statue of Doryphoros, the Spear Bearer. This was the finest of the four surviving Roman copies of the original bronze statue by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos. Standing next to Doryphoros, one can almost feel how ancient it is, communicating its age of over 2000 years. If only it still had its left arm…

Probably the oldest object I saw that day was the Egyptian False Door which was over 4000 years old. In Egyptian culture, a false door was the portal through which the ka, the immortal spirit of the deceased, could pass through to partake of offerings left by priests. This false door came from the cemetery area west of the great pyramid of Ghiza near Cairo.

According to the sign next to it, the inscriptions on the false door commemorate Lector Priest Iry-en Akhet, and list ritual prayers to the gods Osiris and Anubis to facilitate his voyage to the afterlife. Apparently repetition was important in Egyptian culture because Iry’s name is repeated countless times to ensure the survival of his ka in the world beyond. While looking at the photo of the door, it’s interesting to remember that, along with most Egyptian sculpture, the door was once painted in brilliant colors.

Inexplicable Art

Around this time, I discovered more and more abstract and inexplicable art. I continued wandering from room to room, and the rooms connected in strange ways. Many rooms had more than two entrances and the entire museum seemed to flow through itself, which may explain why 3 minutes later, I found myself looking at dark, abstract sculptures by internationally renowned Japanese sculpture Hayashi Yasuo – forms that seem to ooze around one’s mind.

Then, from a distance, possibly 3 rooms away, I saw an orange neon light. When I arrived, I realized that I was looking at quite a unique piece of art, a strange shadow figure with an orange light behind it. This untitled piece by Ernest Whiteman was created out of black steel and a single neon light. The contrast between the black steel and orange neon glow was a powerful effect and seemed to deeply want my attention.

Nearby, I spotted another unorthodox piece called Dancing Shards by Ta-coumba Aiken and Peter Jadoonath, who incidentally have some fascinatingly futuristic names. This piece, made of wood, ceramic, and iron reminded me of sea-faring nations who had their ships dashed against the rocks. Certainly thought-provoking piece.

The next piece was so large that I had to stand back rather far to photograph the entire piece. Yet it contained small details that were playful and expressionistic, as well; so I photographed the near and the far, slowly getting a wider and wider perspective until the entire painted cloth was visible in a single photo. This piece was created from 4 strips of pained cloth and seemed to relate the idea of creativity and balance, as it clearly borrowed from yin-yang symbolism. Of course, this piece will mean different things to different people, as all art does.

Just a minute later, I found myself in a room dedicated to bronze sculptures created by Peter Voulkos, who is considered the most influential ceramic artist of the 20th Century. The collection of bronze sculptures felt older than 40 years, and seemed to have an African and Mayan artistic influence. Being in a room full of bronze sculptures felt awkward for some reason, and I was glad to leave them behind.

Time to Go

I glanced at the clock and realized that I only had 9 minutes left before the museum closed. I continued onward, knowing that every minute counted. I quickly admired Lepine and Coteau’s Astronomical Mantel Timepiece — when suddenly it was time for the museum to close, and I had to figuratively return to my own time. I was thankful to have been able to come here, and looked forward to exploring the museum again. Perhaps I would return in 5 days when I returned to Minneapolis.

I exited through the museum’s side door and looked around. I was now in a small courtyard surrounded by buildings on three sides. I walked ahead to a building with a large circle embossed on the front of it. I surmised that this must be the Target building. By now it was beginning to get dark, and as I began heading back, I noticed ravens flying in the distance.

Tomorrow held more in store.
Continue the adventure →

p.s. I did return to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and finished my exploration of the museum. Those photos are alongside the other museum photos in the gallery.

Check out all of the photos from this event in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts album. All photos in the Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

All articles within the Dallas Trip 2007 series: