Editor’s note: Nancy Cox is the founder of Research Story Consulting and former CPG corporate researcher. Her work and play include words, sketchpads, cooking (not baking) and the occasional sock puppet.
Passions, hobbies, healthy distractions and even guilty pleasures – discover how the research community plays and how that plays out in their work life. In the Venn diagram of work and play, what happens when they overlap? Research colleagues share their work and play stories in this interview series by Nancy Cox.
Hello Sabrina Singleton, Customer Intelligence Manager, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
What is the “play” in your life?
My play is looking at art. This is completely leisure, completely because I like it. I’m not an expert in it – I just enjoy it. While today we can see some museums’ total collections online, it’s a completely different experience seeing art in person. For example, I’ve always liked Monet. We’ve all seen Monet in books, online, even on products. Then I went to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Real Monets! It was a whole new level. I could see and feel why these paintings are so loved. I saw Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” In a book, it’s cool but in real life you could see the scale, the technique, the layers of color. In a book everything is flat and often glossy while in real life you see areas that are matte. You see the artistry.
I go to museums wherever I live and travel, but what I really love are art fairs. This passion began when I was living in Gainesville – there are at least four art fairs a year in different locations with the premier one downtown in the fall. Now I live in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area with even more art fairs. The first week in December, Miami has Miami Art Week which coincides with Art Basel, an international art show. Miami is the only American City that hosts Art Basel. The other host places are Switzerland – where it’s based – Hong Kong and Paris.
Last December, I spent a whole Sunday walking around Art Basel at the Miami Convention Center – which it fills. So much art! One year, I would like to take off a week to take in the additional fairs, events and installations available during Miami Art Week. Just trying to fit Art Basel into a single day can feel so overwhelming that some years I have thought I would not go back. Then I look at my pictures from before and the art is so good! I’m ready to go back!
Art museums and art fairs are different. In a museum, there is a goal to convey information such as seeing how people lived. Often museum art reflects the philosophy of the artist or the curator. There are themes in what is chosen. Whereas at Art Basel, it’s much broader. People are there to make a purchase – what I would describe as more consumer-facing art, although I’m nowhere near being able to afford that art. Also at Art Basel, there is more art that is more recent, although there is some from different time periods. After two hours at most museums, you seen what you’ve come to see but as I said, I spend an entire day and could spend even more time at Art Basel.
I tend to focus more on paintings, but I can see how my enjoyment of pop art comes into play with sculptures. There was a sculpture of an exclamation point that looked like a fuzzy bright yellow Koosh® ball. Another sculpture was just a face and hands. While the face was not out of proportion, it was very narrow which made it more interesting. To me, that was a highly skilled sculptor.
How has your play influenced your research work?
Art unlocks another side of me. While I love to research my interests, and I love that I am paid to research, I don’t research art as much. I think this is because art is subjective. The artist may have something to convey. However, people may interpret it differently. There is no right or wrong answer. With art, I don’t have to research then present a conclusion that I’ve ensured is accurate. While my research career has spanned many industries, it has never touched the art world. Which, for me, is nice. To have something completely separated from work and how I work. It’s a total break.
That said, I can see how research and how I look at art are similar. Research, in a nutshell, is looking at a whole lot of information and synthesizing it into themes. Which is how I explore what I like in art. When I go to Art Basel, I take pictures of everything I like. Looking at my photos, I see themes about what I like. I love a play on color – how you blend color, how color may change whether you’re far away or up close. I see that I like abstracts, pop art, scenery, animals but fewer works with people. With people, I’m interested in the expression. Does their expression intrigue me? Are they in thought, looking sad or troubled? Also, I can see that I’m not as interested by in-your-face political messaging. Those feel more like capitalizing on trends vs. timeless art.
What would you tell readers who want to know more about your area of play?
Ask yourself what you want to get out of the art fair. For me, I enjoy lingering at things that catch my eye. Some people might want to linger at things that disturb them, exploring why something disturbs them. Others might want to learn about a technique or artist they didn’t know before. And for others it’s a social event, a way to connect to other people.
Since I like to linger, here is my advice to navigate a large fair – just linger at whatever catches your eye. Look at art that attracts you from different perspectives. First, far away. Then up close. You might not like it as much, or you might find details to appreciate. People often make comments about abstract art, “oh I could do that in my backyard,” but by looking closely you see the skill in blending the colors took many applications and layers.
To understand what you like, take pictures of everything you like. Guess what? There’s going to be theme. Colors, shapes, subjects. Then you’ll know what to look for at future art fair visits. You can be more targeted in your browsing, to linger with what you enjoy. Be aware that some art galleries and museums are more open to taking photos than others.
Another fun approach is to search a subject or theme you’ve always liked at the museum or fair. I’ve always liked the moon. Maybe it goes back to loving the book “Goodnight Moon” as a child. So, I look for artwork with the moon. This is also a fun way to keep kids or the adult you’ve dragged along engaged. Have them look and find the subject they’re interested in. Speaking of other adults, if you know you’re going to be there all day just have your friend meet you later in the day or space out times during the day to have different friends meet you at the fair, like a carousel.
