Julia J. Wolfe
We Like To Take The Long Way
Artist Statement
There’s something restorative about sitting in a place, doing nothing but observing and listening. Not even actively thinking, just being and noticing. These days, a lot of my thinking revolves around the idea of time, and how modern society has conditioned us to believe, obsess, stress, and grieve over all the time we have supposedly lost. The English language contains transactional phrases like “spending time” and “paying attention,” as if these are currencies one can deposit into a savings account and accumulate interest over (well, you know) time.
“We Like to Take the Long Way” delights in that cheesy, overused expression that “the journey matters more than the destination.” Cliché? Yes indeed, but it addresses a universal truth. Rather than submitting to the hurry-up-and-get-there culture of forging the most direct and efficient route into that perfect future life (which is almost always a delusion), this installation embraces those ordinary, playful, and perhaps un-understandable moments that seem to be without a point, purpose, or economical value.
