Interning; Day 1

So I got a super-sweet internship in the BYU MOA (http://moa.byu.edu/).
It's really great, and I'm so excited about it...
I would really like to one day work with modern and contemporary art- it's the field I'm trying to get into for many various reasons, so the opportunity was a really exciting one for me.

The work that's currently on display is by the artist Dan Steinhibler. (http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_new=28142&int_sec=2) It's really groundbreaking to have a space for contemporary art at BYU where tradition has come to mean so much to so many people.

So today, my mentor for the internship, Jeff asked me to be there at 4pm. I showed up and went to his office only to find it empty (much to my dismay). I went downstairs to ask the front receptionist, and on my way, Jeff called out to me by name (I was happy that he knew who I was/remembered me...it doesn't always happen...). He regretfully informed me that there was an emergency he had to attend to, and that another museum employee would be showing me my first day's duties. I gracefully accepted.

What followed was a taxing 2.5 hours of blowing up balloons using an air compressor that had way too many PSI for the delicate operation, in a room where nobody ever went. It was a sad, silently lonely experience. I loved it.

I remember the exact moment that it hit me: one day, when I'm successful and on my way to my certain millions, I will look back and remember this very day- the day I started on the road to what I want. Internship: Day 1. I was inflating a corpse grey balloon for the D.S. exhibit and looking out at the waning light of day, working its way out of the tiny window in the basement room I was working in when it happened.

So if you're inclined to, the show runs through the 6 of June this year. The works are really amazing and ephemeral comments on the brevity of mortal experience and the idea of death and containment- really eloquent soliloquies about consumer culture and the impact we have as a contemporary society. The statues and pieces created in the gallery are many varied and wonderful, maybe even an answer to something you've been needing. I thank Steinhibler for offering me the opportunity to be involved with his art making process and the moment to have extremely happy, sore fingers from hours and hours of balloon tying.

I'm going back tomorrow.