DISCOVERY #421 (approximately) is that contemporary art is really, really cool. One of the classes I’m enrolled in, appropriately entitled “Art in the City” requires us students to go and experience one show, exhibit, play, musical, etc. at least once a week. On Tuesday the Museum of Contemporary art had free admission to all Illinois residents. That happens to be me now, so I went and checked it out with a few other people. Did you know short films are considered contemporary art? I didn’t until my visit.

The most amazing and thought-provoking exhibit in the entire museum, in my opinion, was a short film. This 8 minute film was screened in a tiny, pitch black room and told the story of a photographer named Kevin Carter. This small room was placed smack dab in the middle of a much bigger room that was lit with the brightest lights I’d ever come in contact with. You can see in the picture, they were all placed on one side of the wall. The film was entitled “The Sound of Silence.”

This particular exhibit forced me to think about every aspect of it. What was the point of the contrast between the extremely bright and extremely dark rooms? Why does the title of the film hint at noise when all other signs point to the idea of light, or lack thereof? The list goes on. The beauty of it all is there’s so many answers and the rest of this city could have a million different opinions.

My week ended with another discovery of the coffee shop kind. For work on Friday, I met my supervisor at a cute cafe which was about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. It’s fun to get out of a routine sometimes and be innovative in a new space. We talked about everything that we want to get done within the next month and she shared some awesome new ideas she had. With every aspect of each different thing we talked about, I got more and more excited.

This week marks 5 weeks in the city and in this program and I’m still just as exhilarated as I was the first day. I have setbacks as would any other person in my position, but it’s all part of the experience. I miss a lot of people back at school sometimes, but no one is going to stay there forever. This program is a great taste of the real world! I’m learning to get used to being uncomfortable at some points and gaining confidence in a lot of the things I do.