after crying periodically through a terrific collection of art exhibits at the national art museum, and an overpriced cheese sandwich in a dimly lit bar/cafe, the only one open in a three block radius, where men in a corner debated my nationality, i decided to take my weariness home and stop inflicting it on norrebro. a woman with tangled brown hair joined me in my triangle of sunlight by the busstop, smiling. that’s not too common here: ben, noting that pedestrian expressions range from dour to stern, said i should give smiling lessons. this rare woman (she’s only visiting copenhagen, perhaps that explains it) and i began talking and took our conversation on the bus with us. i asked her impulsively if she knows where vega is.
she in turn asked the younger, freckled woman sitting next to her and the two of them began to debate in danish. a man across the aisle joined in. at last the younger woman told me she had it; i handed her paper and pen, she made good use of the two, i tusind taked all around and i deboarded at my stop, revived. sun seemed to applaud my effort by making an effort of its own to force through the clouds.
ben left this morning, no last-minute serendipity spitting him back out this time once security gobbled him up. we took full advantage of the unexpected day yesterday. i cashed in the 23 bottles of coca-cola light bottles i’d hoarded for around 60 kroner, the equivalent of $7. we found, en route to the royal library, the lamppost where jamie took the now famous picture of me hugging copenhagen, so ben flagged down a passing brit who consented to take a picture of both of us, arm in arm with the old friend. we discovered to our delight upon entering the royal library that it leads to the black diamond; then to our disappointment that contrary to the info in the cop. post, the exhibit ben was interested in had closed in january. the bookstore soothed us. ben bought the poster i’d long and he impulsively admired of karen blixen.
we dined on kartoffels and decided to try our luck with jesus_c_odd_size, an experimental theater/ modern art piece/ 3-d meditation on christianity. the various characters walked around the church, some in period garb (mary, ephemeral in two layers of red and orange; the disciples in long free hair and socks) interacting with their mobile audience. raised a number of interesting issues re: the fourth wall — what defines an actor if not a stage?
some of the installations were striking, like golgotha, where three individuals were suspended semi-conscious in transparent vaccuum-sealed sheets. others challenged and directly involved participants, like the corner where a benificent woman washed and annointed feet. i watched numerous folks go in laughing or nervous and come out humbly quiet. similarly compelling, judas appeared in a three piece suit and gave a vehement, nuanced monologue, illustrated on the lowered floor in front of him by the mechanized frenzy of a rope and a chair.
eerie and affecting in total; definitely an experience, and more or less ben’s-and-my last together of the trip. differences of opinion, miscommunications, textbook communiciations, long talks, and tears all taken into consideration, it remains a week i wouldn’t change a minute of.