1. Among other things, Irvine Valley College’s nearly completed Performing Arts Center (PAC) is an enigma. Many of us routinely step back from it and ask, — “These shapes. These colors. What do they mean?”
No one expects an answer. One ponders, is all.
This is what distinguishes us from the animals. No animal would waste time like that.
2. Some say that the odd Red Patch of the PAC, as seen from the west (Jeffrey Boulevard), is an homage to the state of Texas. Well, I’ve looked into that, and I don’t think so. (See.)
3. After teaching my class today, I wandered to the back of the PAC. The sky was very blue. The sun was intense. The shapes and colors of the PAC seemed not only to glow but to radiate heat.
I was enjoying myself in silence, allowing my mind once again to idle pleasantly upon the PACitudinal apparition.
I noticed some kind of construction worker, who was doing something near his truck. He was near enough to talk to. So, after a while, I said, in a loud voice,—“Well, what do you think of it?”
Somehow, he knew what I meant. He briefly paused and looked over his shoulder. He said, “It’s a fucked up mess.”
I smiled at him. After a while, he added, “If you ask me.”
4. My friends in Fine Arts acknowledge that the PAC is odd. From the outside. On the inside, they say, it is "pretty fucking wonderful."
