Assignment: Something Beautiful: The Ephemerality of Moments
“Why are there so many representations of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic church?” This was the question I asked my classmate after leaving the Padua Baptistery. This was also the question that would lead to the most beautiful moment of my trip to Italy. When most of us think about beauty, we think about a specific person, landscape, or object. I would like to make the argument that beauty is present not only in tangible objects but also in ephemeral moments.
The gears in my mind began to turn rapidly as I engaged in a discussion of the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. The conversation was thoughtful and unexpectedly respectful, though my attention occasionally drifted toward the hazelnut gelato waiting two blocks away.
On the first fully sunny day to be had in Italy thus far, the cool Fontanella in Piazza Delle Erbe called our names. Six of us sat, gelato in hand, on the stone steps of the fountain. People I had known for about a week began to debate religion, deeply yet respectfully. Truly connecting with my peers, I learned the intimate inner-workings of their minds.
Three young boy scouts ran to the steps next to us, in what seemed to be a race. Their green sweatshirt sleeves were rolled up for the hot weather as they swished their hands through the cool water of the fountain. Laughter erupted between the boys, and us, before a guitar began to strum next to us. The opening notes of ‘Blackbird’ by the Beatles filled the square.
In unison, we all began to sing along to the musician, connecting strangers through music. A young group of girls joined in as well, running over each other to get a spot on the fountain steps. Unconcerned where they were going, they almost sat on an empty plastic bowl that was left at the steps. An old man with his dog approached the young girls, making me sit up slightly to watch over. However, all the old man did was take the plastic bowl from the girls, so they could enjoy the steps to the fullest.
The bowl was then refilled in the fountain and set down next to the man’s dog. The small act of kindness from the man was to help multiple individuals: the girls and his own pet. The young and the old connected together in this moment, as I viewed from the side.
On this first fully sunny day, I saw humanity truly connect. By music, by conversation, and by laughter.
My Word Painting inspired by John Ruskin in Alan de Botton’s The Art of Travel
This moment during the trip was one that I can proudly say was my most beautiful memory. To me, no object or artwork can match the beauty of human connection. We sat in a stunning architectural environment with a collection of people amongst all ages sharing ideas, with music, and bonding together. This moment cannot be boiled down to one thing; that’s what makes it beautiful. It will also never be able to be experienced the same way again, adding to its beautiful ephemeral nature in my memory.
Despite this, I wanted to try and encapsulate this moment with a drawing. De Botton writes, “True possession of a scene is a matter of making conscious effort to notice elements and understand their construction” (de Botton, 220). The beauty of this memory was in all of the elements coming together to create something spectacular. However, I had to take them all apart while creating this drawing in order to understand where I truly felt the beauty was coming from.
When drawing this beautiful moment, I was truly transported back to that afternoon in Padova. I could feel the sun on my skin and hear the giggles of children around me. However, the most prominent thing I remembered was the song ‘Blackbird’. The Renaissance art we had studied placed such a large emphasis on the visual aspect of beauty. Renaissance artists wanted to represent the most “beautiful perfect human body” or the “ideal geometrical architecture.” Renaissance thinkers often embodied the idea that “hearing was passive, discontinuous and disconnected and took place over time. Seeing was active, continuous, and connected, and took place immediately” (Nelson, 155). For art, the visuals were the most beautiful aspect rather than the sounds accompanied with them. To me, however, the beauty of this moment in Padova was the sound. From talking with my peers to listening to the man on his guitar, the act of hearing is what drew me to love this moment.
In the postmodern world we are living in, we often forget sound. When one lives in a consistently busy city, they become accustomed to the constant noise outside of their window at night. The more we are surrounded by cacophony, the more we are inclined to tune sound out. Even the introduction of photography allowed for sound to be forgotten. A photograph doesn’t have sound; it is simply a visual display of something. I struggled to find a photo for this blog of the moment purely because no picture I took included the entire scene with the sounds. Even the video I took only lasted a few seconds, so it was unable to fully capture the entire moment. I attempted to do so in my drawing, by adding the lyrics to 'Blackbird' in the background, but even that is unable to fully encapsulate the memory.
As technology is consistently improving, the increase of sense use is becoming more apparent to me. When video was introduced in the early 20th century, sound was brought back into the visual art world. However, I often find sound being fabricated. Instagram and TikTok allow us to place music atop videos, masking their original sounds. We are able to manipulate sound to reach our audiences better, taking away from the authenticity of sound.
There is a unique beauty in moments that cannot be fully preserved. We live in a postmodern society that is so focused on trying to capture moments for later that we fail to embrace the beauty of the ephemeral. Some moments are meant to be experienced and remembered, not stored for social media. As I continue to live my life, I want to take these principles to fully live in the world around me. I want to take it slowly, listen thoroughly to the sounds surrounding me, and capture moments through memories not a camera lens. There is a beauty to the ephemeral, but you can only appreciate that beauty if you understand the importance of living in the moment.
Citations:
de Botton, Alain, The Art of Travel. New York: Vintage, 2002 ["On Possessing Beauty"].
Nelson, Robert S. Visuality before and beyond the Renaissance: Seeing as Others Saw. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
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