Tehching Hsieh, Noah Kalina, and the Art of Documenting Life

Quite some time ago I took a trip to the Nelson Art Gallery in Kansas City and viewed an Experimental Art exhibit. Most of this "art" probably doesn't deserve too many points on the art-o-meter. However, one piece did impress me. It was done by a guy named Tehching Hsieh. Mr. Hsieh took his picture on the hour every day for a year and documented his task with a time clock. The first day he showed up with a shaved head...he didn't cut it for the rest of the year, which allows us to watch it grow back as we view the pictures in movie format.

Last week on YouTube I discovered a similar experiment (I think I was visitor 5.7 million). This time a guy named Noah Kalina took his picture once a day...for 6 years (1/11/00 - 7/31/06).

I'm not exactly sure why this type of work interests me so much. If I allow myself to slip into a moment of over-analyzing...I think what's portrayed in these two projects is a picture of the brevity of life. "Art" such as this reminds us that years disappear into memories and the memories cruise along breaking every speed limit. Without any means to of applying pressure to the breaks we have little recourse but to be aware...be aware of friends, a spouse, kids, pleasantries, impleasantries...be aware of God's position in the mix.

There's something beautiful about living...about memories...about the sadness and happiness that one looks back on. Seeing a person's life literally flash before our eyes is different that watching It's A Wonderful Life, or viewing some other artistic expression of how life sneaks by us. The realness of seeing a human express themselves in this way is sobering. It reminds us to make good use of our days and hours. It reminds us of the wastefulness of discontent and worry. It reminds us of many things...


www.noahkalina.com