PhillySound: new poetry

I'd add one more possible effect of "Given" on its viewers, hassen -- you respond to ES with this: "what's maybe more interesting, certainly more creepy & hysterical, is how the act of peeping through those holes, makes us acutely aware of our own violation. we are being made predators at precisely the same time we find ourselves judged (by ourselves) for our unwitting action." What about also that smug sense of belonging to an in-crowd, of knowing that to "really" experience this work you have to peep? Think of all of those poor unwitting slobs who, as TD puts it, "pass “Given” by completely, thinking that the barn door is the piece itself, and that there is nothing more to see." I mean, some barn doors are quite beautiful in and of themselves.

And then there's also the thrill of knowing that other museumgoers are watching you peeping. You're in the know, and you know you're in the know. Double voyeurism, or triple. Museum and gallery spaces are great for that. People don't just go to see, they go to be seen seeing, if you follow me.

JES