When I saw Fred Wilson\u2019s Guarded View in this week\u2019s lecture, I was immediately excited, as I saw this piece over the summer at the Whitney Museum of American Art. I distinctly remember stopping and staring at it, wondering why the faces weren\u2019t there, and being intrigued when I read that it was making a point of how mostly people ignore security guards, shown by them not having heads, but in this case, he is making them the center of our attention. This act of ignoring people who are of service to us, or people who we become accustomed to, made me think of a story I recently read about the CEO of Charles Schwab. In an interview discussing the bank\u2019s hiring process, the CEO said he looks at a candidate\u2019s heart as well as his head when hiring. He discusses how he learned the importance of placing value on others through a final exam he took in college. The CEO said he studied hard for the exam and had memorized various formulas for it. However, when he arrived to take the test, he received a blank sheet of paper; the professor told his students that he had taught them everything he could and that the only question he had left was, \u201cWhat is the name of the lady that cleans this building?\u201d The CEO did not know the woman\u2019s name, despite having seen her daily in the building and thus he ended up failing the exam. However, he learned a valuable lesson about recognizing the people around you and understanding the importance of heart. Although this isn\u2019t an art piece, I chose to write about it because I think it relates to the message of Wilson\u2019s piece, the message of ignoring people such as security guards because you are used to them. Instead, artwork or stories like these can serve as reminders of what is important, and can perhaps make people stop and take the time to get to know these people who we pass by everyday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I saw Fred Wilson\u2019s Guarded View in this week\u2019s lecture, I was immediately excited, as I saw this piece over the summer at the Whitney Museum of American Art. I distinctly remember stopping and staring at it, wondering why the faces weren\u2019t there, and being intrigued when I read that it was making a … <\/p>\n