The first step was to jump on the bus and head downtown. I have mixed feelings about the bus. On the one hand, it is nice to be able to travel around the city fairly cheaply. The bus ride downtown only cost 2.25, which is much less than I would have spent on gas and parking. And it was nice to be able to sit back and look outside as the bus rumbled down the street. I got to see places I wouldn't have if I had taken my car. On the other hand, I dislike being crowded into spaces, surrounded by smelly people. The bus ride started out with just a handful of us, but by the end the bus was packed with people, some of which had to stand because there was no seats. Ick.
Overall the bus ride down was fine. I hoped off at Westlake and proceeded inside the mall there to have lunch. Now the food court there at Westlake really isn't all that. However they have an Emerald City Smoothies there which makes a great peanut butter and strawberry smoothie. Normally it is one of the best things I put in my mouth, however this time it was somewhat watery and bland. I was disappointed, but what can you do eh? Normally they are quite tasty.
Having been fed, I walked over to the SAM and stepped inside. I wasn't sure what to expect. From the outside it looked smallish, especially next to the mega tall buildings in the area. The lobby was neat, with these white cars suspended from the ceiling with blinking rods of lights shooting out of the sides. Being free day, they just handed out tickets to whoever walked up and ushered us in.
The SAM's exhibitions are divided amongst two floors. The first floor was their more modern pieces with their native american art, glass work, and some colonial pieces. The second floor was where their special exhibit was, their renaissance art, the porcelain room, Grecian art, and Egyptian art. The place is huge. I just kept finding rooms upon rooms with art in them. The outside was very deceptive. One of the first things I noticed was how eclectic the SAM was. They had at least one example of every art I could think of, and not just paintings. They had some beautiful cabinets and wardrobes, some fantastic silverware from colonial times, some fancy chairs, even an entire wooden robe that was a replicate of a room in Italy. And the porcelain room was an entire room filled with porcelain bowls and statues and knickknacks. The variety was delightful.
The special exhibit was by an artist called Nick Cave. He specializes in wearable art by making what he calls soundsuits, The different types of suits are named for the different sounds they make when people move in them, hence the name. The suits were amazing. They often had very tall headpieces attached to them and were made from a variety of furs, buttons, twigs, and sequins, normally in very loud and extravagant patterns. And there were an army of them packed in the exhibit. After looking at them for a while I had to sit down and close my eyes because my senses were just going into overload.
I was at the SAM for roughly 2 hours. I barely got to see all the pieces. The only reason I left when I did is because my brain just quit on me and I couldn't process another piece of art. I literally felt like someone had poured art into my brain and it was leaking out the top and dribbling down my head. I was in art overload. Plus my feet hurt. So I trekked back to the bus stop and managed to catch up to the BF who was busing his way back home.
The bus ride back home was less pleasant, due to having to sit near a drunk mentally ill woman who was loudly talking to herself. It was a stark reminder of why I will never ever ever ever work in the mental health field again. But thankfully she got off quickly and the rest of the trip passed without comment.
So in conclusion, I highly recommend the SAM. If you have never been go. I know I will be going back on the next first Thursday of the month. I still got pieces to see and process after all.
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