[sgtnoodle]

The Japanese aesthetic known as wabi-sabi is all about accepting transience and imperfection. Have you ever thought about the ephemeral nature of art installations from that point of view?

I recently spent a day killing time by walking around Stanford medical center. There is a rather grand atrium, circular and several stories high, with most of the center taken up by an abstract art installation. All the walls are a combination of rough and polished stone. Hundreds of tech companies' and individuals names are etched into the walls. While all very impressive, the permanent opulence of it all evoked a similarly negative emotion in me.