27 November 2012

Chasing Shadows


I had a bit of a chuckle last night. Indeed at one point I laughed out loud. A did a LOL. I was chatting to my friend. I won’t mention her name because she might get embarrassed.

So Alina was telling me about her day. 

She is arranging an Art Exhibition this Thursday. Alina is showcasing the Russian Realism artist Guram Dolenjashvili. I have looked at some of his works on the Internet. 

They are superb. 

They are exquisite. 

Guram’s art is sketched by pencil. They are in carbon. The detail is such that you would swear that that they are photographs. They are meticulously drawn by hand. I hope he is at the Exhibition because I would like to ask him a few questions. Does he envision these works in his mind before he begins to draw? Can he see the completed piece before he starts or does the image just emerge? Such things intrigue me. Artists and musicians are a source of wonderment to me. They bring life and colour and verve to an often mundane world.

So Alina and I were swapping messages about our respective Mondays. Mine was typically uneventful. Tremendously boring would be a more apt description. I work in a large corporation where there is very little creativity. There is no Art. It is all business. We are money making machines. We seem to do it very well. Make money that is. However there is little joy. Money can buy you neither love nor happiness. 

I know this for a fact.

Alina told me her day was an adventure. She told me that she went hunting for an elusive object. Her French Public Relations and Marketing Director had recommended that she go out and try and procure an antique loop for the Exhibition. A loop? Now this was interesting. Buying a loop? I needed to find out more. A further couple of messages were exchanged. A loop according to Alina was a magnifying glass! It was to be used by people at the Exhibition to study Dolenjashvili’s works more closely and to also provide some ambience at the venue. It was a good idea. A nice concept. 

I liked it.

Alina had gone from shop to shop in Little India and Chinatown enquiring about these loops. Aline told me that the Singaporean shopkeepers were stunned and perplexed at her enquiries. She told me that they were not very helpful. This is often the norm here in Singapore. No loop could be found and Alina was frustrated. She told me that she got a bit angry. She arrived home sans antique loop and her day was therefore unfulfilled.

I can relate as my days are often unfulfilled. I blame no-one else for this. It is the life that I have chosen.

Now I had never before heard of such objects being referred to as loops. My interest was piqued so I dived into Google and I referred to the on-line Oxford Dictionary. I also checked the on-line Webster Dictionary. Americans sometimes do make-up words. Much to my chagrin. There was no reference however to a loop being anything other than a circle. It was an infinite orb. Something that went around and around. And around again. 

It is perpetual motion personified.

I messaged this to Alina. I did so politely and with tact. A Russian Art Director? A French PR lady? Could this have been somehow lost in translation? Alina had confessed to me in our earlier messaging that she was very nervous about the upcoming exhibition. I tried to reassure her that the event would be a huge success. The Art is spectacular. 

So is she. 

I theorised though that her PR Manager may have picked up on her nervousness and had sent her out on a distracting mission. A wild goose chase that would deflect some of her anxiety. What a great idea and a good prank. I thought that it was mischievous but delightful. I told Alina that if this were the case she should plot an act of revenge against the French girl. Something harmless but amusing. I told her that I would help but we would need to wait awhile though. 

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

I went to bed later that night - as I do every night. The thought of loops was foremost in my mind. Going around and around. I was in a spin. As I waited for sleep to overwhelm me I had a sudden epiphany. I launched myself out of bed and I powered up my Mac. I opened a Browser and I Googled an enquiry. “What is the French name for a magnifying Glass?” It is of course a Loupe! I felt triumphant. 

Mystery solved. 

Despite the late hour I messaged Alina straight away.

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