I went to the MET this past Friday. It was a slow day, and I got my tickets on the spot. No lines to get to the rooftop and to the new installation by Hector Zamora, Lattice Detour. An experience worth having.
Reaching the terrace, you are confronted by a snaky brick wall, a construction that blocks your view. Misplaced and misfit. “What is the big deal?”, I thought. Then, slowly I started to experience the installation.
First, I felt I had to walk around it to see what there was behind. Mind you, I am pretty familiar with what is behind the wall. I have been to the MET’s terrace numerous times. Yet, somehow, having something blocking my view makes me want to see what it is blocking. And there it was, Manhattan skyline in all its majesty.
Second, I noticed the lattice work on the bricks. it allows light to pass through thus creating these beautiful shadow patterns on the floor. It was also cool to notice that the shadows of people on the other side of the wall moving as if they were an old movie with its truncated, staccato moves.
An obstacle that allows something to pass through. A barrier that allows one to see through. One cannot cover the sun with a sieve, as we say in Portuguese. An insight to the fact that one cannot be 100 per cent successful in preventing people, ideas, man-made or natural phenomena to cross borders. Protection as an illusion… At certain angles, the wall looks monolithic and solid. Yet, the ever increasingly high skyline insists on making itself seen above the wall. One cannot bury one’s head in the sand, as we say in English. Reality will find us…
As I walked along the wall, other thoughts came to my mind. The wall is made of a particular type of brick. It reminded me so much of the ugly unfinished, low-income constructions of the poor neighborhoods of my own city, São Paulo. It felt like a paradox. A striking contrast. In this affluent city, in this top-of-the-line museum, blocking this gorgeous view there is a wall made of a humble material, accessible to many who cannot necessarily access this terrace. And yet, their presence can be felt. The more I examined the installation, the more I could see its beauty. Slowly, the wall merges itself into the landscape. Perceptions change. Perhaps we just need to slow down and reflect.
