Valuable Time With You

Venice, Italy. September 2017.

This is Domenico, one of my dearest friends. We traveled to Art Biennale in Venice together two years ago and returned again this year to see Vive Arte Vive! As a seasoned attendee of both the art and architecture Biennale, Domenico navigates the Giardini by heart and has an eye for detail that I can only hope to emulate.

Here we are inside an installation in the Korean Pavilion designed by Lee Wan. Lee's work entitled "Proper Time: Though the Dreams Revolve with the Moon" is an installation of 668 clocks that cover the walls of this room from floor to ceiling. Each face has the name, birthdate, and nationality of various individuals Lee met while researching economic circumstances around the world. Despite its uniformity, the clocks do not move in unison. The hands move at a speed that is determined by the amount of time the subject has to work in order to afford a full meal.

But, back to Domenico. He is my better half in all ways: sophisticated, articulate, and wise beyond his years. The time I spend with Domenico is precious and so when I took this photo, I thought it was, for lack of a better word, timely. I can only hope our Biennale trips together continue on as a tradition because every trip with Domenico is an education I cannot get anywhere else.