‘All the Beauty in the World’ author, former Met security guard Patrick Bringley on art and loss, his unexpected global journey and what's next
Patrick Bringley never imagined that his memoir about working as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York would resonate globally. But when “All the Beauty in the World” became an international bestseller, finding especially enthusiastic readers in South Korea, he knew something profound was at play.
“I wrote this book 7,000 miles away, sitting in an apartment in New York City. I had no idea if what I was writing would land with anybody. Because after all, it was about a job where I was mostly by myself, quietly thinking thoughts in solitude,” said Bringley to a packed room of 400 readers at Kyobo Book Center in Seoul, Saturday.
“There is clearly something universal about art, about beauty, about loss, and I'm just so grateful that it's struck a chord here. It's something I never would have expected.”
His debut memoir, published in Korea last year, received an enthusiastic response, selling 250,000 copies and topping the country's bestseller list for the first half of the year.
The 41-year-old author said that while he had traveled extensively within the United States for book talks, his international visits had been limited to few countries, including England, the United Arab Emirates, and now Korea.
“I'm bewildered but there's probably not one simple reason. It’s clear that something about the music of the book has resonated in this country. So many people felt a connection with not only the story but with its tone and mood,” said Bringley in an interview with The Korea Herald afterward.
Finding solace in art
Before becoming a museum guard, Bringley worked at The New Yorker, where he once thought he had landed at the top of the world. But when his older brother, Tom, was diagnosed with cancer, and later passed away, Bringley found himself unable to return to the office.
Instead he sought refuge in the quietest place he knew, where time seemed to stand still -- working as a security guard at the Met.
“For 10 years -- almost 2,000 days, I got nothing done. And you know that was the job. If my hands were empty, my head was up and I was looking around to see the way things are, I was doing my job perfectly.”
He said he had done nothing but those long, quiet hours of standing watch for 8-12 hours a day with the museum’s greatest masterworks, became a time for profound reflection and appreciation.
In time, Bringley transformed his experience into a story: part portrait of the Met, and part memoir about the loss his family suffered and the solace he found in the museum. He encourages museumgoers to approach art with the same patience.
“My first piece of advice when entering an art museum is to quiet yourself down. And to spend minutes or hours just feeling small.”
But he also believes art should empower, not intimidate.
“There’s another way of thinking about art museums because these museums are showcasing the talents and capacities of human beings -- of you and of me. We should feel proud, empowered, challenged and engaged rather than just silent and invisible and small.”
Bringley emphasized that it’s important not only to learn about art, but also to learn from it.
“Don't feel intimidated. Don't feel as if there's anyone upstairs that has the right answers. Nobody has the right answers. Everyone is qualified to have their own thoughts.”
Acting debut and next book
Bringley recently took his storytelling a step further, adapting “All the Beauty in the World” into a one-man play in which he made his debut as playwright and actor. The 80-minute monologue premiered at the Charleston Literary Festival in South Carolina, in November last year.
“Memorizing the lines was very hard,” he admitted. “And it’s different because (in talks) I can be just casual whereas in the play, I'm pretending to be myself from the time when I was a guard. So even though I'm just being myself, it's like having to create a work of art.”
Bringley said the play will soon open in New York this spring for at least two-month run.
He is also in the early stages of writing his second book, which he hopes will explore the act of seeing -- how to truly look at art, how to let it come to you, and how to absorb as opposed to just glancing around.
“I want to begin with art but then bridge out to other things because one of the reasons we look at art is to teach ourselves to see the world out there.”
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
