When I went to the MoMA, this piece by Atsuko Tanaka really struck me for its simplicity and color choice. The description in the museum left a lot to my own imagination, so I began to think of it as the human condition. The red orb reminded me of an outsider in a world full of similar people, feeling destined to live on the outskirts of society while everyone else remains together in solidarity. Yet, it isn’t just the people in the painting, there are squiggly lines of connection between them all. Some touch the circles while some don’t, and they, too, are in blue and red. I think it shows a certain hope that connection can happen, even with the outsiders in our society and communities. While it has to make contact, the opportunities for connection surround all of us at all times, we just have to scoot a little closer to each other. It also struck me that each blue orb, while easy to consider exactly the same, have their own differences. The world isn’t so black and white that there are only the outsiders and the others. Even within the others there are differences. If we use our place in the world and our abilities to connect correctly, perhaps we can see the beauty in all of the differences between people, both big and small.