Today we decided to explore Kansas City more, and spent the afternoon at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Wes and I aren’t HUGE museum people, but we spent the whole afternoon wandering the beautiful halls of art. We opted to skip the contemporary wing for today, and just hit the pre-1900′s art. We’re saving modern and the sculpture garden and grounds for another visit. The best part is that the museum has free admission, and inexpensive parking. So it was a fun, free day!

The highlight of the day for me, and possibly the museums most well known piece, was this:

Yep, that’s right. They have a few Monet pieces, but I sat and stared at the Water Lilies for a bit. I love impressionism.

It was also interesting for me to see what Wes and I gravitated towards today. While he was more apt to go study the furniture pieces or the sculpture, I was the one to wander to the paintings first. We honed in on our own favorite pieces, and spent most of the day in contemplative silence, together but in our worlds. Occasionally we called each other over to point out some detail to the other.

The morning we mostly spent with European artists. Midday we arrived at the Tuscan inspired cafe, and decided to have a snack. They had delicious sandwiches, soups and chili and we got to sit peacefully enjoying this courtyard.

The afternoon was more Asian-inspired. There were plenty of awe-inspiring pieces, including a huge wood and lacquer Buddha, but I liked this carving the best.

As the afternoon drew to a close we headed back to the car, but not without a quick stop at the gift shop. No new magnets for the collection, but we did spot these guys – who were awfully cute!

***The title has no relation to the post… but you figured that out!

72 Chairs, 400cm in diameter.

The installation consists of a large sphere composed of an assemblage of chairs. The legs are attached to one another, bringing the chairs together. In this spherical conference room there is no central position, all the chairs float in solidarity with each other. They operate as an immune system – protecting themselves by blocking and kicking out their surroundings. As a massive object in the gallery space, the sphere acts as a centre of gravity around which the rest orbits. The reorganization of matter derives from a ‘big bang’ where the ancient order of the conference room has blown out and reconfigured into a ‘utopic’ geometrical endosystem.

Found it here.