Chihuly at the deYoung: Call of the Cthulhu?

Written by Darin Boville
Monday, 15 September 2008 18:45
I went to the Chihuly exhibit at the deYoung in San Francisco yesterday. Chihuly is sometimes confused with Cthulhu, the ancient alien evil, an Old One, worshiped by early civilizations and a source of unspeakable dread and indescribable horror to modern man, its existence hinted at by H.P. Lovecraft in many of his novels. I certainly get them confused and after attending the deYoung exhibit the issue is not altogether clearer. What is the right way to approach a Chihuly/Cthulhu exhibit? Certainly not as art in the sense of something having to do with the intellect or with touching upon something deeper in the human spirit. You are more likely to wonder about a piece’s manufacture or to ponder what percentage of the works Dale Chihuly actually touched or, indeed, beheld before opening day. But that it at least something with which to occupy yourself as you stroll through the many galleries, packed with eager, well-behaved visitors. I suggest two strategies to make the experience a more pleasant one: Bring a camera to photograph the works as it will give you something to do with your hands. Bring children, too, and try to see the exhibit through their eyes--full of novelty and color and surprise. Children are blessedly unaware of the danger the exhibit presents to their souls. I’ve put together a gallery of my images from the Chihuly exhibit. A few of those images are below. Photos by Darin Boville.