Seeing Things (13): Snowflake

Media - 1971.29 - SAAM-1971.29_1 - 57474
Robert Budd, (Snowflake), 1970, screenprint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1971.29
March 4, 2014

This is the thirteenth in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Take a look at Howard's other blog posts about seeing things.

This little guy, this little fellow here, and about a gazillion of his friends wreaked havoc on our fair city yesterday; Washington, D.C., was up to its monuments in snow.

Each snowflake is beautiful, no doubt. And no two are alike, or so we're taught in school. That's an amazing feat. Robert Budd's seriograph—a print made by the silkscreen process—could be the new emblem of the city, at least in this season of the polar vortex, and our regularly scheduled snow storms. The print gives the humble snowflake both dignity and mystery. It helps us to see the patterns of the snowflake yet it also feels symbolic, somehow connecting us to something deeper.

Plus, seeing one is a good thing. Having a whole mess of them is just...well, a mess. The museum is back open today. Today's score is artworks "one," snowflakes "zero." Enjoy!

Categories

Recent Posts

An art conservator holds a vacuum nozzle on a piece of artwork.
A peek into the world of conservation and the meticulous care of James Hampton’s The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly.
Anna Nielsen
Program Coordinator
Eliza Macdonald
Katya Zinsli
Detail of illustrated portrait of Emma Amos.
04/26/2024
Painter, printmaker, and textile artist Emma Amos created colorful multi-media works that explore themes of identity.
Detail of Phoebe Kline. She is sitting in front of orchids and smiling.
Docent Phoebe Kline began at SAAM in 1974 and she's still going strong.