The Grand Canyon was our first stop on a whirlwind 2021 spring break trip that would take us to seven national parks between Arizona, Colorado, and Utah with five kids in tow. By the time we got in and set up camp, we didn’t have very long before the visitor center and gift shop closed, so we stopped there before seeing the actual canyon. My very artistic niece selected a postcard painting for her souvenir, and was delighted to quickly locate the scene it depicted in real life when we did make it over to the canyon rim. She held it up, taking in both the real scene in front of her and the artist’s interpretation at once. It was a moment of life imitating art imitating life.
More Than a Memory
Reflecting back on this moment, it made me wonder why we feel drawn to capture imminent beauty in front of us, whether with a paintbrush, a pencil, a camera, in words. Are we trying to hold onto a piece of it in a form that’s more tangible than our memory? Do we hope to share our experience with others who weren’t there with us, or evoke memories for those who were? Are we trying to stir something in others that drives them to want to visit for themselves, or to protect what we love? All of those certainly ring true for me.
It’s said that no secondary representation can compare with actually experiencing a place. As an avid traveler, I would wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. So then why bother capturing our experiences of a place? I would posit that our artistic representations of a place actually serve a unique purpose, beyond the motivations listed above. While a photograph or painting of the Grand Canyon isn’t the Grand Canyon, it captures something that the actual Grand Canyon can’t – a specific moment in time, held onto forever, through the lens of the artist.
Framing the Fleeting
Every moment is fleeting at the Grand Canyon (and everywhere). Weather changes. The river flows and shifts the landscape. Clouds morph or disappear or envelop. People and wildlife come and go. Trees grow and flowers bloom. As they say, the only thing that stays the same is everything changes. But a work of art, no matter the media, grabs onto a fleeting moment and gives it a life beyond its ephemeral existence. When we gaze upon these works, we can relive or perceive for the first time what that moment was like.
Even more than that, we are given a window into the artist’s point of view. Every work of art is a reflection of the creator’s interpretation of their experience. Two painters may look upon the same scene and one spends care getting the afternoon light just right while the other makes sure to include a tree housing a nest in their depiction. One photographer will capture the expanse of the canyon with the widest angle lens they have while another will use a long zoom to focus on one interesting rock formation while its surroundings fade into bokeh. While we can only see the canyon firsthand through our own experience, art gives us a chance to peek into another’s world, to see something we may or may not have seen ourselves in a new way.
Expanding Our Vision
Boy, isn’t that something the world could use more of these days! Whether it’s through listening to others’ stories and sharing ours, or by spending time gazing upon works of art and creating our own, isn’t it wonderful that we live in a world where there are truly infinite ways of experiencing a place? How boring would it be if we all shared the same experiences in the same way?
Sometimes it may feel uncomfortable or disorienting if someone else’s lived experience doesn’t match our own. I recall one childhood road trip where my mom and I pointed out some antelope but my sister couldn’t see them and vehemently insisted they weren’t there. It didn’t change the fact that they were, and her surety that they weren’t prevented her from even looking. But if we can move past our own defensiveness and tendency to center our point of view, the world becomes just a little bit more colorful. We start to see things we didn’t notice before. Our eyes open with wonder at a deeply intricate world that no one person could possibly comprehend every facet of. Isn’t that in itself simply wonderful?
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