Momento: On Standing in Front of Art

by Jeffery Donaldson

Why do we stand in front of art and look at it? Why do we go to galleries and museums? What does it feel like? What do you expect to have happen there? How do you feel before you enter, after you leave? What do you do with all your moods, your attentions, your restlessness, your curiosity, your sense of time? How does a visit come to be in the way that a painting comes to be ? Does it matter how you begin? Does it matter if you're ready? Jeffery Donaldson's Momento answers these questions and more by offering a poetic daydream about the curious, otherworldly, but urgent and existential experience of art, artifacts, and the buildings that house them. This little book itself is like a visit to a museum. Enter and wander as you please.

170 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2023

Reviews

[Mark Bondy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to switch out of Dr. Donaldson's class on American Literature to fit a mandatory class into my schedule. A year and a half later I started to read this book without connecting the dots that I had met the author. After having finished it I will now begin the long journey of trying to shake off the regret at never taking a full class with earth's most deserving Hamilton Arts Council Award recipient. Recommending this book to anyone and everyone I've went to the AGH with as my defense for staring at Blair Bruce paintings for the entire duration of our trip.