A Big Red Doughnut

In my last post about visiting Brisbane I mentioned that I saw something in the GOMA museum that caught my eye. That's gallery of modern art in case your wondering.

Firstly I thought modern art was just a load of crap and to be honest, I still think alot of it is.

But there was one piece that really caught my attention and that is a big red doughnut by Anish Kapoor. Sorry I couldn't find the real name. Everywhere you look it simply says. Untittled

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Now this isn't something you take a look at and think wow! I took one look at it as I walked past the archway and thought "that's crap". "No wonder the rooms empty." But then something stopped me.

Curiosity.

"Why is this thing so big?", it was the only thing in the room but yet didn't take up all the space. You could easily fit more exhibits in there. Thrn it became clear that the entire room was reserved for this one piece. The room was silent, with white, blank walls drawing my attention even more to it. It felt like an interrogation room. Not that I've been in one but you get the idea.
All your attention is driven to this big bright red doughnut on the wall.

I decided to take a look and actually read the description plate on the wall for once.

It mentioned that it was designed to make you feel a certain way. Some of the feelings listed were, depressed, anxious, emptyness, enlightenment, joy.

So if I stare at this thing I'll go through some sort of emotional ride? Sounds interesting.

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I made my way back to the center of the room and calmly stood still, staring and at a red doughnut in a big empty room with nothing but the sound of footsteps of people passing by. Not exactly exciting. [Image Source]() *This is where I was standing. It's the best picture I coumd find to relate to my experience.*

After staring at it for about a minute, it started to morph. The black center got bigger and bigger and I felt as if I was staring into a void, emotionally being sucked in. "This can't be happening" I thought as it continued to grow. By now the entire thing was just a black circle. Completely 2D, there was no doughnut shape, no red it was just this big black hole in the wall, drawing me in. The feeling of emptyness was overwhelming.

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I closed my eyes for a few seconds and opened them. Back to the red doughnut.

Cool!

I did it a second time with the feeling of anticipation and a bit of excitement. But something different happened.

This time the darkness in the middle started to slowly shrink.
After a few more seconds it dissapeared, so now I'm staring at the brightest red circle I've ever seen. You know when you've been looking at the sun (like an idiot) and you see a circle afterwards. Like that but way bigger and bright bright red.

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Now I felt different, almost energetic and felt a buzz. I tried to control it, making it seem red when I wanted or black when I wanted. I succeeded a few times but it was mostly random.

By the end of the experience I felt refreshed like I had just woken up from a good nap and continued my way through the gallery.

I was really shocked how that thing made me feel. I mean it's just a big red doughnut...isn't it?

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If you go to Brisbane and visit this Gallery, I suggest checking this out. Maybe it was because I was the only one in the room in complete silence but it sure had an impact on me!