2 – The Art (Dallas)

It’s been weeks since I got to see the outside world. Stuck between assignments and a few exams, there hasn’t been a moment to explore the surrounding places. A shame considering that I signed up for this art school because its surroundings are breathtaking. Free from the stiff chair and any dooming deadlines, the first steps take me into the town. The fresh smell of late summer leaves and brewed coffee tingles in my nose. It actually makes me crave one, but I can’t give in. I need to cut down on the caffeine for a bit. That’s what my thoughts been like, however the café down the street makes me almost reconsider this little promise to myself. With struggle, my feet move past the templating cafés and coffee shops and explores more of the city. People stream almost from every corner, but it is less crowded than expected. It’s just as I slowly make my way closer to the centre, that something catches my attention.

The pitter-patter surprises me with cold drops soaking through my thin jacket as my feet hurry the stairs up to a big monumental building. The walls look like they were created of the finest marble, but I can’t really take the time to enjoy the sight of it. The doors close behind me as I make it inside the building, taking a deep breath. Rain still clings to my now messy hair, although I am not drenched in water. Relieved I buy a ticket and explore the exhibited pieces of the museum. While the dinosaurs on the lowest floor intrigue me, the path leads me to the art aisles further up. Barely anyone is here as I take a look around the pieces of artists back in the renaissance times. ‘Paragone’ captures my eyes, making me want to read the story within the painting. War is such a grotesque thing and yet the painting lures me back to look at all the parts.

“It’s terrible how it pulls you to the image to look at it.”, an unfamiliar voice almost whispers from the side, “It’s supposed to represent the renaissance as a theme, but I don’t understand the appeal of… brutality.”

Carefully I turn around, finding a face hidden away by the hood of their jacket. However, the mind of this person fascinates me. A fleeting gaze of brown eyes and the exchange of art leads us further down the aisle where other artists have their canvases and statues. Just as the duo come to a halt between Michaelangelo’s David and Da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi, the lights suddenly turn off. Someone shouts that the power will be restored soon. The stranger and I share earphones as the two of us listen to songs, only to be surprised as that one song plays. A crimson blush stains my cheeks, only faintly recognisable in the lights run by the remaining power in emergency cases. Maybe it’s the closeness to the other person, maybe it is because talking to them is so easy in comparison to others and perhaps the light and music are just right.