Maya Lin at The Corcoran

Run, go fast, and see the Maya Lin show at the Corcoran.

But, wait, didn't it just start?

Yes, run, go fast and see the Maya Lin show at the Corcoran.

Garcon! My skates, s'il vous plait.

The size, the materials, the scope, the construction, the curves, the wood, the designs, all of which have a strange, calming effect which I need. Surely, the muted color of the materials contributes. Except the big straight pins. They have a story to tell.

About 200 members attended the members' opening on Tuesday night and heard Ms. Lin speak a few moments about the exhibit, "Systematic Landscapes," her interest in the Earth and introduce her children (and her husband, too? I could not see or hear).

A guard told me the Corcoran staff spent six weeks putting the show all together.

You mean, all the wood pieces in the mound and the hanging wire?

Yes. They are numbered. Everything is neatly diagrammed so the staff knew where to hang/put it/them.

On the floor of one gallery are black rectangular squares which act like floor fences surrounding three individual lake pieces. The guards keep visitors "out" of the blocks. But in the "mound" gallery, feet come perilously close to wood pieces which form the base of the "mound" and there are no guards to "keep out."

'Splain!

I said to the guard: "I guess it would have been too tacky to put up signs telling people to keep off and away from the sculptures." The guard smiled: Yes.

But "Tonight's our first test to see how it works. If someone knocks over a few pieces, that won't upset the mound too much since the wood is 'stabilized,' but if someone falls flat on it, that will be an upset." The "lakes" are unusually precarious and need protection, the guard said.

Everyone was having a good time with old and new friends, beer, wine, cheese, bread, scallops (the best!), beef sticks, cous cous, lemon creme puffs, and the new show.

Overheard: "It's all the media's fault. The media has driven this. The market was up 400 points today." And: "Frank is catatonic. The market was up 300 points today."

Run, go fast, and see the Maya Lin exhibit at the Corcoran. It closes July 12.

Pictures to come.

The roof is still under repair on the other side, but you don't even notice. Now, about those floral designs...