MAAT

Last week, my friend from Switzerland came to visit me in Lisbon. Since the weather wasn’t great, we decided to check out the MAAT museum instead of going to the beach. There was an exhibition by a Portuguese artist named Joana Vasconcelos that I’d seen ads for around town. When I entered the hall, there was this huge, colorful sculpture that was made from fabric. I thought it looked like a spider, but my friend insisted it was a jellyfish.

We went back and forth debating what it could be. Eventually, we realized that both of our perspectives were valid — it just depended on how you looked at it. As I attempted to set aside my initial impression and listen to my friend’s viewpoint, I found myself able to visualize the figure as a jellyfish as well.

What was interesting about the artwork was that you could see it from every angle, and it would look different each time. You could walk around the hall, see it from the front, back and even stand underneath the huge figure. It wasn’t just the shape that made you think, but also the different materials, fabric patterns, and colors used. We even found that focusing on specific parts made us see entirely different things.

At first, I couldn’t let go of my idea that it was a spider. But as we talked more, our ideas got more abstract. I feel like the artwork reminds us that there are always multiple ways to see and feel about things. In the end, it turned out that the sculpture was supposed to be an octopus — something neither of us had even considered! It just showed how everyone’s imagination is unique and that even though we all look at the same thing, we can see completely different things. Therefore, I guess it is important to speak up and try to understand what people are thinking, instead of just assuming it. The visit at the museum was a powerful reminder that there are always different angles to consider, ones we may not have initially thought of.