“Seeing is believing.” This famous idiom holds true for a number of things, including the exquisite art works showcased in the nauretech exhibit at Fitchburg Art Museum.
By taking a quick scan through our blog posts, you can come to the realization that we all stress in different ways the importance of seeing these amazing, innovative works of art in person. Great photographers, writers, and even talkers such as the curator of Fitchburg Art Museum’s naturetech, Mary Tinti, are able to wonderfully showcase and describe the works of Nathalie Miebach, Cristi Rinklin, and Michelle Samour in tremendous detail, but you cannot get the full experience until you see the artwork in person.
Until you see up close the flamboyant colors shimmer from Samour’s tinsel paintings, listen to the weather scores accompanying Miebach’s sculptures, or view the subtle details radiating off Rinklin’s powerful paintings, you are not truly experiencing naturetech in all its glory.
In the world we live in today, it is so easy to view pictures on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter and click a button to like or favorite what you are seeing before you on your phone or laptop, but do we ever stop and wonder how we are replacing the real deal with viewing it on a screen? Sure you are able to look at the work, even admire it, but without experiencing it in person, are we truly seeing it? Are we truly able to appreciate the work for everything it is and everything the artist intended it to be?
I will be the first to admit that I was in no way a regular museum goer that viewed art works in person, but naturetech changed that for me. When Mary Tinti first showed me the photographs of the various artworks being showcased in naturetech, I thought they were amazing and that I was truly seeing them, until March 6th, the first day I stepped inside the Fitchburg Art Museum and was able to view and experience the artwork in person. The works literally took my breath away. As shown in the picture above, I became deeply transfixed and mesermized by the works, especially Nathalie Miebach's immense wall installation "Changing Waters.". I could not believe the vast difference there was between the images I had seen and what stood right in front of me. No amount of high resolution or eloquent wording can adequately capture the works of naturetech. Conversely, I feel no high quality camera nor brilliant talker can encapsulate any experience as well as being there yourself, in person, and truly absorbing your surroundings can. For this reason, I plan on attending museum exhibitions much more frequently such as the Fitchburg Art Museum, and Stephen Zevitas Gallery in Boston, (also showcasing Rinklin’s work!)
The next time you go to like a picture of something eye catching on Facebook such as a brilliant artwork like the ones showcased in naturetech, think of how it is great to be afforded the technology to do so, but how it also limits us. There is nothing like seeing a work of art in person to truly experience it for all its beauty. In order to truly be able to appreciate the work and all its immaculate detail, you must see it to believe it and fully appreciate it!