Chihuly

You may have seen these already via the flickr set, but below you'll find some highlight shots of the Chihuly glass sculpture exhibit at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens. We went Sunday evening (after hiking the Superstitions in the morning, to be posted later) and joined THRONGS of camera wielding crazies. Bullet-list of observations:

• Very interesting how glass sculptures can make people blatantly ignore fields and fields of gorgeous wildflowers. Man One, Nature Nil.
  
• Good lord, the camera equipment. I easily saw a million dollars worth - the number of high end SLRs, fancy lenses, etc. was unbelievable
• And as a consequence, tons and tons of people doing the exact same thing - oohing, stopping, and taking pictures. Just like me! Love that de-individuating feeling. Add in that there was an overwhelming majority of pot-bellied midwesterners, and it's almost like we were in and part of
  
• TOURISTLAND! And let me tell you, do throngs of tourists ever have the most exciting art commentaries. I'll gladly listen to the iPMM talk about Chihuly all day long, but if I could go, say, another three years without hearing "Incredible! The glass! How do they DO THAT? The use of color!!! AMAZING!," etc., I'd be a happy dude.
• This falls under rule 2314-A, DON'T TALK ABOUT ART AT HIGH VOLUME IN FRONT OF THE ART, YOU WILL UNAVOIDABLY SOUND DUMB.
• Again, allow me to clearly differentiate this from the likes of Beck and iPMM, who quietly make insightful comments intended only for their target audience and not the masses at large. Not to mention they know what they are talking about and don't make vague assertions along the lines of "Look at that colorful glass thing - it is so colorful, and so made of glass, incredible!"
• This probably all makes me sound elitist and obnoxious, but really, the angle here is don't make a public nuisance of yourself in inappropriate contexts. Falls under the umbrella of "don't answer your cellphone during a movie" type mandates.
• Samesaid tourists also managed the quote of the day - on a crowded bridge, where people were bumping into one another and people in wheelchairs were trying to squeeze by, one exclaimed, "I can't believe there are so many mobilely-challenged people around here!" Sacre inconvenience! You stay classy, Ohio State Sweater-wearer.

Alright, that's probably enough griping. It was a lovely exhibit, probably better experienced during a private tour or something. ALl said, still snapped some nice shots - here are the highlights: