By far the one thing I’m most happy about experiencing so far in Paris is an exhibit by Nan Goldin entitled Heartbeat. In it you walk into a darkroom to a soundtrack of Bjork eerily singing Kyrie Eleison in Latin and English. In the center of the room is a projected slideshow that features no words until the very end when Goldin expresses thanks to her friends for allowing her to share their intimacy. The actual slideshow features pictures of different couples (including a homosexual one) and sometimes their children. Each couple had a different story and each story started the same. There were photos of each couple in their every day lives with each other and then the photos got more intimate or as others would say pornographic. It was blunt, no holds barred, simply beautiful. I left the exhibit not disturbed as a few were by naked pictures of couples that sometimes featured their children. I wasn’t bothered either that the exhibit featured a gay couple-unlike the man next to me who promptly left when images of gay men popped up on the screen. Instead I was refreshed. There was this tingly feeling I couldn’t escape which clearly meant that I was moved beyond words. What I saw was real people who were able to enjoy the sometimes complicated but truly simple and utterly indescribable act of of BEING with someone completely. Mind, body, and soul these couples were intertwined fully. And in this world I think what made me happiest is not only the possibility of true intimacy but the acknowledgement that just because I am not experiencing it-that isn’t true for every one else. I wish people could find ways to let go of the trivial stupidity and bullshit and allow themselves to be part of the beauty that exists in our heartbeats-the beauty of being a human being, and sharing that with each other.
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