I took this photo at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London a couple of weeks ago. For those who might recognise the room, it is the one just off to the right beyond the cloakroom and the circular Information desk.
Is it really someone lying down? Or is it perhaps a lifelike sculpture?
If you click the photo to see a larger version, you will see that there are more cushions dotted about the room. When one came free, I sat down and relaxed.
It was a great experience. I felt that I wasn’t being propelled along in the way that I feel when standing and looking at art. Instead, I felt like I owned the place.
Of course, when I am standing and I see something that hits me, I stop, and look, and stand back, and stand forward, and reflect, and think, and shiver, and feel rewarded and at one with the universe – or a bit of it.
But lying down is a whole other experience.
I was so pleased and – grateful, really – that afterward I went to the information desk to congratulate the museum on doing this. The staff there said that in that case I should fill out a feedback form.
And I got a reply from Zoe Price at the V&A who said that she was delighted that lying down
“…helped to establish a feeling of Ownership for you which is so in line with the ethos of the exhibition.”
and she gave me the link for some upcoming events in the All Of This Belongs To You exhibition.
Photograph Works 
Wow that’s a great idea, might have to install one of those in the Cake Stories kitchen….
LikeLike
Ok. But fill me in. What was the exhibit and did your ” ethos ” indeed change when you were reclining?
LikeLike
Well, apparently the spirit of the exhibition was to increase a sense of ownership of the objects, so it did that. The exhibition is permanent – it’s classical sculpture and my eye definitely traced around the objects more and they felt less foreign to me when I was reclining.
LikeLike
They should have those cushions at the Sistine Chapel, then you could enjoy the ceiling without getting a crook in your neck….
LikeLike
Levitating cushions 🙂
LikeLike
These would be a great idea until I had to get up again. That might not be pretty.
LikeLike
That’s very honest of you 🙂
I read recently that being able to get up from a kneeling position without using ones hands is a reliable indicator of longevity. Scary stuff, eh?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I can usually do that, but after a prolonged period of relaxation like I would have in that chair it might be a different matter. Maintaining my agility and flexibility is the main reason I go to the gym three or four times a week!
LikeLike
If you go to the gym then you getting up ‘would’ be a pretty sight 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very kind!
LikeLiked by 1 person