I  was sooooo excited to go to the Museum of Art and Design to see the paper exhibit. It is called Slash: Paper Under the Knife and showcases some UH-MAZING artwork. It explores the artists' discovery that paper is not a static object: paper can be three dimensional and it can become anything and everything. There were pieces that were structural representations of buildings and trees as well as architectural masterpieces that truly showed the multiple, strucural capabilities of paper.

I enjoyed a sense of  amazement and wonder at the possibility of what I saw before me.  Paper was coming off the walls at me. It was hanging in vines of flowers, creating silhouettes and shadows, mimicking the arrangment of Columbus Circle.... it was amazing.

There were a few "books" that were 800-1000 pages long and they were the physical manifestations of archetectural blueprints. Every layer was illustrated using cutouts of the page. Starting out on the first page, you looked at the roof of the building. On the next page, you were an inch or so into the roof.  Five pages later and you saw the beginnings of the roof beams. Only once you got to the middle of the books did you actually "see" the structure.  However, although these books were some of the most interesting pieces in the museum it was because of the analytical skills that you needed to use to engage with them. This part was the most frustrating. Sometimes I could not understand the perspective of the cutouts and I was completely lost as how to look at it. The information on the walls was no help because it was all flowery talk and did not explain it clearly enough. I was soo frustrated with the last few pieces that I saw, which were these works made out of layered paper that I sat down and had no desire to continue with the exhibit.

How can it be so hard to understand what the artist is showing? Especially when it is right in front of you? I couldn't fathom why I wasn't "seeing" the pieces clearly and because of that I got so discouraged.

Besides this slight attack of despair, I loved what I saw.  Apart from its utter ingenuity, the most interesting was the description of how the artists discovered the power of the work that they could produce through using paper.  It felt to me like I was dicovering something that hadn't been possible before, was suddenly very present and possible. The feeling is something that I can't really find the words to explain but I can try. It's similar to looking out at an ocean and at first not seeing anthing past it. Then suddenly one day, when you look out into the distance, you see a sunset and mountains and you know that there is something there, but you had never thought it possible before.

This experience was incredible and although I was frustrated I think that I learned something from it.  I highly recommend to everyone to go and experience the artwork.