come early or come often?

two possibly unrelated aspects about this ol' art game have struck me today.

firstly, i popped into the AGNSW today for a quick visit. primarily to pick up my free copy of the SMH-as i'm attempting to save for a trip to london by not buying the paper or coffee - my two major vices since giving up smoking. anyway, while i was there, i thought i'd pop in to check out the James Angus show, which i mistakenly thought was at Agnes (getting my angus and my agnes mixed up), rather than across the ditch at MCA. in having a quick scout around at the contemporary collection and a little peek into the shop before having to shoot back to work, i wondered if i was committing an artcrime in just 'popping in' to the gallery.

must one always spend a long time with the work, or will a lunchtime quickie do as well?

of course i spend other times lovingly in galleries for extended periods of time, paying close attention to all the ins and outs, but surely my appreciation for what's out there is enhanced by a quick peck every now and again. surely it's about keeping it exciting by having both kinds of experience. right?

and speaking of experiences, i might even take this whole thing a little further and spend the rest of my working weeks before christmas seeing one piece each day i pick up my paper. fully reacquaint myself with the collection and maybe even fall in love with some obscure work from the pre-raphelites that i've usually balked at. this could be the beginning of summer lovin' lunchtime styles!

and speaking of summer lovin', i think i'm about to jump on the robert hughes bandwagon after seeing the interview with andrew denton tonight.

i must confess that i never fell in love with ol' hughesy when everyone else was. i was rebelliously reading bachellard and beckett when i should have read bob. and i have a feeling it's time to repent.
something about his demeanour reminded me of francis bacon - something about the swingin' 60s, british cad kind of thing, and having fallen in love with frank a while back, it's time to borrow, or buy the shock of the new. having being introduced to mr hughes the first time around the time of american visions and that ol' accident, i'm going to avoid that phase until i've convinced myself that he's actually worth pursuing.