Opening doors; opening the universe

I am going to wax philosophical here.  Professors sometimes lament that our students come to college only for the job prospects:  students only hope (we kvetch) that their education will be a tool to open doors.  But professors believe (we say) in the life of the mind; we want the college experience to open more than doors: we want it to open the entire universe.  

And so I was thrilled to get a letter from one of my favorite former students, working now at MoMA.  Carol Faber '15 wrote,

While on my lunch break, I took a look at Walid Raad's Exhibition, "Scratching on things I could disavow. A History of Art in the Arab World: Walkthrough." A certain work in his collection reminded me of your class instantly. I have attached photos of the object-- which I would describe as a sculpture of one of our drawings.  . . . 

Raad's work is a magnificent exploration of depth and flatness; check out his page http://www.scratchingonthings.com/works/ for more examples. Within the forced perspective genre, he includes these fascinating examples below. 

This peek at MoMA was part of a larger life experience, one that includes bravery and initiative and looking beyond obstacles.  Carol writes,

After graduating in May, I moved home and got a waitressing gig at a renovated speakeasy in my town. I made some money over the summer and pretty spur of the moment, decided to move to NYC. A friend from school posted an amazing rent opportunity (affordable, no year lease, etc) so I figured I would give NYC a try.  

New York was never a place I dreamed of living  [because of some personal history stuff]. . .  I am very happy to say that in a way, I have reclaimed NYC.  . . .  Once I moved to the Bronx, I got a job at the Italian restaurant across the street from my apartment. About a month later, I was offered two full-time jobs. I had to choose between working in Visitor Services at the Guggenheim or MoMA. I am still in awe that I had such an amazing decision to make. 

MoMA made much more sense in the end because it pays more, is a shorter/cheaper commute, and I am assigned to the Picasso sculpture exhibit. Some days I work at the membership desk in the lobby, but usually I am up in the Picasso Sculpture gallery. I still cannot believe that 4 months after graduating with an Art History degree, my office is the Museum of Modern Art. 

Carol's path took her so many places, both personal and professional. The particular art piece she shared with me is a stop-you-in-your-tracks sculpture with amazing perspective qualities, in many ways showing just how different Carol's life is from the illusion that this piece represents.  A blurb from the artist describes how a hypothetical future visitor to the exhibit "rushes the entrance only to find that he is unable to proceed . . . He simply feels that were he to walk in he will certainly ‘hit a wall.’ "

But the depth in his pieces is an illusion, in the same way the lack of depth in our own lives can mislead us.  As Carol has shown, sometimes opening a door means recognizing that you have not actually hit a wall.