Adams Morgan Blog: September 2018

Friday, September 28, 2018

LeWitt's Pyramid and Judge Kavanaugh's hearing

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, Four-Sided Pyramid by Sol LeWitt

It's hard to put the testimony by Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford to rest. It feels like a moment that's going to take a very long time to process.

This hearing speaks to the permanence of trauma and guilt and regret -- that some things never really go away. They are never really resolved. They are permanent and they shape us.

The hearing forced, perhaps, many to deal with their own history. To review their own mistakes and the ruin they delivered on others, while reminding the victims of the still rawness of the pain.

The sculpture, above, by Sol LeWitt tells of these many sides. It's located in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden, very close to the U.S. Capitol hearing room.

The Four-Sided Pyramid changes with the seasons, the time of day, and the angle of view. People see what they want in it. In the summer, when this area is green and lush, the Pyramid almost glows. The sharply cut blocks take on a soft, warm hue and the angles point to the heavens. As the seasons shift, the Pyramid turns hard and cold and stark.

No matter how people see the Pyramid, it remains the same, dense, heavy, unchanging and powerful. Isn't that the heart of it? When we review the past, we can try to change the light and angles but the thing remains.

The nomination should be paused for the FBI investigation. To ignore it, and not deal with it, is what normally happens in life. We run from our past, or try to bury it or forget. This doesn't work for the person or the nation.

Like this Pyramid, unresolved guilt or unhealed trauma can take on a different texture while never losing its shape. It comes and goes and takes on new colors and moods from moment-to-moment, but is never resolved. That's what will happen here, as LeWitt's great sculpture reminds.