there are no cell phones here

The Art Institute of Chicago offers free admission on Tuesdays (to the galleries) thanks to a grant from Ford Motor Company. The plan was to go with one of the other partners but we never managed to hook up (perhaps cell phone issues are to blame), so I went alone.

This was my third visit to The Art Institute (since my arrival in Chicago) although by no means have I come close to seeing everything there is to see. As the Seurat special exhibition ended (how we managed to miss it is still a mystery) I wanted to see if they had put the painting back where it belonged. Last time there was literally a note left in the place where the painting is usually displayed. I am happy to report A Sunday on La Grande Jatte is back in its proper place.

I roamed the galleries for a little over an hour before heading back out onto Michigan Avenue. You can tell from the flower beds that fall is coming. There was a briskness in the air and some people were already donning their winter coats (although really it wasn't that cold). Many walked and talked on their cell phones. It was interesting hearing snippets of other people's worlds.

I continued along Michigan Avenue all the way to the Sear's Tower (my pedometer says I tracked just shy of six miles today). At one of the shopping centers I took a break to text B to see if he needed a ride home tonight as his class ends at 9pm. Across from me was a rather obnoxious woman. She was on her cell phone trying to make arrangements for the person on the other end to pick up one of her children from soccer practice. She was loud and condescending. She got defensive at one point, blaming poor cell phone reception. I decided it wasn't restful and continued back home.

Along the way I noticed how many drivers on Michigan Avenue were on cell phones (non-hands free) while making left hand turns. It was scary to watch, especially as a pedestrian. Ironically one of the first group projects B had to debate for his LEAD class was whether or not to ban cell phone use while driving. Part of me thinks we should ban them all together in public spaces. Go back to the simplier times like in Seurat's painting.

If Seurat were to travel through time and jump to modern day and paint his scene again, what would it look like? Would there be cell phones and laptops and women wearing thongs? If so, would we be as inclined to look at it? Surely it wouldn't be as pretty a picture.