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Exit, no exit |
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written
by shivali / 10.24.2005 |
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Assignment |
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I had heard all about the Spanish Steps before my own decent down them. My parents had insisted I visit them; I had seen Roman Holiday religiously. In short, I had expectations about the experience. The Spanish Steps are distinguished by a single entrance and exit: the top and bottom of the steps. But the steps invite a variety of detours. The sheer number of steps usually makes a visitor stop midway and this is approximately where I found myself stopping. I looked up to see how many steps I had already gone down. Then, I had to look down; I anticipated the number of steps I had left. All around me, I suddenly saw the number of people sitting in the shade cast upon the steps from neighboring buildings. There were couples cuddling or kissing; children being chased by parents, kids enjoying gelato on the warm summer morning, and an older man with a book. They, too, had been drawn by the lure of the infamous steps. The other people enjoying the Spanish Steps became my biggest detour.
On the other hand, the Santa Maria dell Concezione has an end, but no exit. The visitor must walk down a rather disturbing display of skeletons and bones to each the end of the tunnel. But at the end, there is no exit. This means experiencing the walk, not once, but twice. The second viewing and journey is significantly different. Where the first walk is rushed and upsetting, the second time around the viewer has overcome the grotesque nature of the human remains. When the skeletons are carrying saying “What you are now, we used to be; what we are now, you will be,” one must consider the entire display in another light and include oneself personally. I forced myself to consider the message and my own role within this “art”. Only then was I able to extract the bones’ message of hope and resurrection. Only then did I consider the placement of the painting which depict Jesus literally pulling men out of Hell in relation to bones. The message becomes obvious by the time one reaches the entrance again: Death is inevitable and that Jesus and Christianity can save you. It is through the structure of the passageway that the viewer is forced to overcome their initial shock and participate in the deeper meaning of the Santa Maria dell Concezione. Only through such introspection does the viewer understands its deeper significance
Finally, Via Veneto is characterized by a variety of entrances, exits, and ends. For example, each woman may view a certain store as an end. For some it may be Gucci and others Prada which prevents a single, resolute journey down the entire street. Perhaps others come in search of the perfect item and that is their end. After they have found it, the shopping is over. The street has lost its function; they return home. Additionally, a variety of streets intersect the Via Veneto and each is easily a detour. Signs for fresh pizza or shopping bargains can easily lure of visitor off course on the main street. But it’s the type of street in which visitors come to lose a part of themselves, to shop, or to forget about some worry or concern. The detours are appropriate then for they elongate the visit for such people.
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