Amesterdam seems to be this great experiment no one seems to acknowledge. Its a culture of tolerance, and while at times, a flashing ambulance rests somewhat poetically on a historic bridge as classic boats coast underneath at sunset, its a place of humanitarian engagement, inspired creativity and peace, or so it seems. Everything seems to be fair game. Every paved space is a road and since bikes are everywhere, there are many roads. Pedestrians have the right of way, but many times, those little bells they ring just barely prevented a collision. You would think that it would get dangerous at night--drunken bikers, many foreign pedestrians that dont know the protocol. But it doesn't seem to be a problem.
So, ive never considered myself to be a museam type. I like live culture, here and now. Lets talk about and contribute to what is, not what was. Then, I went to the Van Gogh museam. My God, it totally blew me away. At times I was shoked with chills. I loved hos fascination with nature and the People, farmers in particular. I love how heknew nothing when he began painting around 20 years old. By around 26 he declared himself a painter and went to Paris where he incorporated impressionistic pointilism that he incorporated in hos own way. He took what was and mad it his own. This, he decided, would be his contribution to humanity. Represent truth. And so, it seems he responded to the rapid industrialization and enlightenment of the era, with art that celebrated the People whose calloused hands sow the seeds that ultimately feed the world. He captured exquisite moments in nature, rapidly evolving, and I loved how he mimiced the Japanese by trying to create peaceful communes of artists. And I loved his art through his ostensible fall from Grace, his descent into psychosis. Sometimes his work would show no signs. Literal clear blue skies would serve as the backdrop for little blossoms in a paining for his brother Theo. But others reflected his lonliness. I became completely immersed in the dialectic among his life, his art at the contemprary times. I got his experience, and I left feeling so grateful for his work. His intention to reach people with his art found resonation through me that day. I got some postcards.
