MET-itations by Leslie Sewell

 This lovely exhibit reflects well the culture of Korea in a gentle and unassuming way.  Although when I visited Korea (although too briefly) I found the country and people charming.  This included meeting a woman on the subway in Seoul who went out of her way to help two strangers navigate the system.  And although we did not speak Korean and she did not speak English we managed to find a common language in Spanish.  She told us she had decided to study Spanish just because she thought it would be interesting.  And so we all had a delightful time together.  I was reminded of this meeting while looking at this charming exhibit that includes object from the fifth century to the present in paintings, ceramics, textiles and ritual objects.  

 These galleries are  full of Chinese bronzes which are mostly bowls and other vessels .  But this twenty four handed figure has caught my attention.   What could I do if I had twenty four hands.  I could certainly complete certain tasks much more quickly.  And then what would I do with the time I had saved.  Saving time seems like a complicated process.  What exactly is time and how do you save it.  And if you save it is it like money that you can then bank and use some time in the future for some other purpose that is totally unlike what you were doing when you saved it.  Or is time more like water flowing through a river where it is never the same once it has passed.  Like the Chinese saying that you can never step in the same river twice. I want to linger in this gallery and stay looking at the various bronzes which seem so substantial and permanent.  Somehow that is reassuring.