It always gives me joy when I see art work that inspires people to action—making something. This is why one of my favorite experiences is visiting the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. The museum is laid out in three components joined together by an impressive lobby.
The first space, called the Hot Shop, is an auditorium where you can watch teams of talented artists blow glass. It is like watching a finely tuned improv performance. Artists gather around sketches, rush about with hot molten glass on the end of long metal tubes, and thrust glass in and out of blistering hot ovens. The process is so mesmerizing it is always difficult for me to leave this space. The second component is an exhibition space that displays the finished work of master glass artists—it is always inspiring. The final space is an education studio where children are allowed to make. It is a natural progression—when people get inspired they almost always want to participate.
This desire to participate is part of the reason video games are so popular. As of 2018 over 164 million adults in the US regularly played video games. The $45 billion industry has become our leading form of entertainment and has woven its way into the fabric of American culture. The average gamer plays over seven hours each week, and this is not an activity exclusively for the youth. Statistics show that gaming is distributed relatively evenly among various age groups, ethnicities and gender.
Over 60% of gamers play with other people. When compared to other forms of entertainment, gaming is quite social and allows individuals to actively participate. Gaming is not a passive form of entertainment like watching TV, going to a movie or attending a live performance.
The image shown here is a scene captured at the Seven Magic Mountains, located just outside Las Vegas. The foreground shows a makeshift sculpture garden that was developed by visitors who were compelled to spontaneously stack some rocks before leaving. I wonder who first started the effort—who cracked the egg? Regardless, they opened up a flood gate. Last time I visited this homegrown sculpture patch had acquired over 100 new works. This happening is not just a testament to the Seven Magic Mountains’ ability to inspire but to our insatiable desire to move beyond observation and participate in making. Although no individual work in the DIY sculpture garden rises to a level worth recognizing, the collective effort remains quite impressive.