Oh! Playing in Serenity
Right now, I am literally laid out across the enormous bean bag of Sphere Square, part of artist Seung Yul Oh's MOAMOA, A Decade exhibit at the City Gallery Wellington. His mixture of play and rest is so absolutely divine, I had to come back and sit in it to write. Luckily for me, there is no queue at the lunch hour in Wellington, so I greedily have this huggable space all to myself. If you can set your adult conservative propriety aside momentarily, then you can dive into Oh's magical creative world. It is not a patronizing playground for children, but an arena where age becomes boundless. He sophisticates playtime in such a way that laying back and allowing the peaceful waters to calm your concerns is not a meditative massage of sound therapy for adults, but a motherly caress to sooth your inner child. Affirmation to excessive smiles, silly antics and bouncing childish qualities that permeate deep inside you. The additional juxtaposition of mature serenity begs for you to close your eyes, fall deep in the body's experience and allow the lyrics of soul to rest. You can be yourself in this room. Darkened to prevent exposure. Intimate where the delicate water stream surrounds and washes over the personas adult duties require. On top, you are hidden from view, intimately wrapped by the bouncing ball of play. The entire experience revealing how we are creatures that desire great joy and keep climbing after it for so long -- many to give up. Not realizing if you rest, if you break boundaries that allow the uninhibited squeal of delight out of your imagination, you may come to realize that enchantment dwells within and you need not seek destination or location -- just tools and environment that will cultivate and protect your true nature. For it is the natural that is authentic. It is the authentic that usually has something of value to say. And value is indeed a lovely concept to dwell upon when you, all that you are, is edified. Cheers to Oh! A revelation and moment to play in serenity -- I thank you.
[Image: little girl exploring Periphery]
Updated June 27, 2014: A heartfelt thank you to City Gallery Wellington for posting my poem on their website: http://www.citygallery.org.nz/news/more-moamoa-poetry
