I went to a concert yesterday at an art gallery.
I didn’t realize it was an art gallery until after I got there and thought to myself, “wait—is this an art gallery? I think this might be an art gallery…”
When I first entered the building, I was met by a “security guard.” Myself being accustomed to typical music venue policy, I took off my backpack, preparing for a quick flashlight-search before clearance.
“Nah, man—we don’t do that here. You’re good.”
This was the first hint that, maybe, this was less of a music venue and more of an art gallery. Regardless, I just thought, “huh, that’s weird. Doesn’t make me feel very secure, but OK.”
Then, the ushers guided me into an empty room with a single piano against the wall.
Apparently, I was the first one there, which was incredibly uncomfortable. For probably a full 30 minutes, I stood silently alone in this room with a piano, surrounded by ushers posted at each wall of the room on security detail. This was the second hint that this was an art gallery—you know when you go into a museum, and you’re looking at all these paintings, and there are guards in each of the doorways to make sure nobody touches the exhibits? That’s basically what this was.
I could have reached over the little velvet rope and played a sizable chunk of “Ode to Joy” before being politely asked to not touch the exhibit.
Gradually, a few more people began to filter into the room, maxing out at less than 100 people total, which meant the show was very intimate. When the performer came out and played, the audience was completely silent, which had me begging the question—what if I smuggled a whoopee-cushion into the venue in my backpack? There are no signs that say “NO WHOOPEE-CUSHIONS”—what could they do to me, really? Ask me to stop? What if I refuse? Are they going to kick me out?
Anyway, the show itself was awesome, but the size of the crowd and the general “art gallery-feel” that came along with the venue made me feel very pretentious, like one of those vegans who tells everybody how important it is that they support local art.
Fortunately, the performer was actually from England, so the art technically wasn’t local. I guess I have that going for me.
You never hear any of these vegans going on about how important it is to support foreign art.
Until next time,
Michael J. Erickson, CEO & Co-Founder
