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What was the first car you ever saw that you ever fell in love with? Did you see contemporary dance after contemporary dance before you finally “got” it? Is there a story about the first time you ever really looked at a bottle of soy sauce and had an epiphany about it’s design aesthetic? If so, tell it here! The early 2000’s were a great time to get into television. HBO’s original series were getting more and more critical acclaim, due in no small part to the popularization of DVD boxsets. Because people were able to watch shows in sequence more easily, shows like The Sopranos were able to tell more complex stories, with the assumption that the viewer had seen every episode up until that point. The very first “prestige drama” that I ever saw was Six Feet Under, in my late teens. I had never realized how television could tell these long stories that built on the backstories of their characters without having to constantly remind you of what happened last episode, or even last season. I haven’t seen it since first watching it around 2005, so I have no idea if it holds up, but it was the first time I took a television show seriously as a piece of art.  I haven’t been to a lot of concerts in my life, or at least I feel like I’ve been to far fewer than other people my age. I think that’s because I heard live albums before I ever went to a live show, and they never really capture the feel of a really great show. Also, the first several concerts I went to were pretty terrible, which made me think I would never like music in a live setting. Even later in life, I never saw anything that really wowed me until seeing Sufjan Stevens play a theatre in the town where I live this year. I had never heard his music before(which is a real obstacle to enjoying a live show for me), but my fiance is a big fan and wanted someone with whom to go. I’ve never been so moved by a live performance of anything, ever. It was clear that he took his shows very seriously. In between songs, the lights simply went black and went back up, and he didn’t say anything, except when he was singing. A projection of various images was displayed on 9 crystal shaped screens behind him, and whoever was in charge of the lights deserves an award. I’ve never gone from ambivalence to a deep emotional movement in such a short period of time.  I’ve spent a lot of time in museums. They’re one of my favorite things to do when I visit another city, and spending all day in a place where you can really sink your teeth in(like the LACMA or the Getty) is a real treat. Having said that, I never really felt like I understood art on an emotional level until a few years ago. I’d walk around the museum and look at new images, and enjoy the novelty or the craftsmanship, or comment on my bewilderment and lack of understanding of a contemporary piece, but I never understood the fascination with paintings or sculpture that really arrests some people. However, a few years ago, I happened to see my favorite painting in the world, Automat by Edward Hopper(you’ve probably seen his painting Nighthawks. I still don’t have a deep appreciation for most other art, but I find his voyeuristic, lonely pictures to be absolutely mesmerizing, to the point where I’m reading books about his work, and later in the year I’m going to commission an artist to paint a reproduction of it so I can hang it in my house.  Feel free to share your stories of your first understandings here.
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Feb 3, 2016 01:31
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I definitely feel you on Six Feet Under. It honestly doesn't hold up that well, but on my first watch it really made me realize that TV was about to get amazing, and largely it has. At the finish it felt the same as reading a really good novel, neither TV or even movies had made me felt like that before. I still kinda think of it as the last gasp of the '90's, despite debuting in 2001 or so. Also, if we're gonna talk about art, check out Henry Darger. Nothing I can say will do him justice, just check that poo poo out. It's utter beauty.
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Feb 5, 2016 00:19
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I happened to read a translation of Leaves of Grass on display and thought "poetry, wow!" I was struck by how Whitman could find the universe in himself. I felt like a house opened up for wind to blow through.
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Feb 5, 2016 00:29
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When I was a young boy I played Mario. Not Mario on the Nintendo Entertainment System but Mario on the Gameboy. I push the button and it made the man move. It was then that I Understood.
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Feb 5, 2016 12:25
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