Store #1591: Oak Grove, Kentucky: Slow Looking

I decided to go to a new exhibit that I had never seen before so that I could truly experience a work of art with a fresh pair of eyes. Currently, there is a Waffle House Vistas exhibit that displays pictures taken from booths inside a Waffle House that display the context and surrounding area where the restaurant resides. I decided to spend my five minutes viewing the picture Store #1591: Oak Grove, Kentucky. 

As I started my five minutes, I looked at the picture and was immediately drawn to the corn directly outside the window which splits the image in half, the upper being billboards and sky while the lower part is diner booths. The windows also divide the image into three ways to view the outside. Inside this exhibit, all the images from within the Waffle Houses have similar booths, so my attention was immediately drawn to the outside and its contents. Viewing the corn outside the window evoked questions in my brain about who owns the field and its relationship to the parking lot and restaurant. After contemplating the importance of this cornfield and viewing it as the major eye-catching factor, my eyes drifted elsewhere as I focused on more details of the outside environment.

The first major details I began to study were the vacant billboards. These empty billboards created this feeling of an atmosphere of emptiness. By being empty other than one advertising a hotel in the upcoming miles, these signs demonstrated an idea that this Waffle House is part of a drive through town, only visited when stopping from point A to B. This idea was thought-provoking and led me to contemplate and truly think about the world of this Waffle House and the life of those who patronize it. 

Then, I noticed the other restaurant signs in the distance. I first recognized the Denny’s sign and then the iconic McDonald’s “M” peeking out through the trees. I also noticed how cheap the gas prices are at the Exxon station and grew mildly envious. Other major details that draw the eye are the power lines alongside the highway as well as the massive highway signage. While dominant to the image, I did not spend time looking at the power lines, multiple puffy clouds, or the light blue sky, because they did not capture my interest. 

Finally, I spent a lot of time trying to decipher the traffic zipping past the cornfields as the highways were disguised behind other details. Viewing the domineering semi-trucks as some of the only signs of life in this picture demonstrated further my hypothesis of this town being vacant other than the occasional road trip family making a pit stop. 

Finally, I spent the last minute reflecting on the interior environment. When looking closer at the details inside, I saw the sign saying booths are for two or more guests, yet there are no other customers visible in this image, once again providing a ghostly feel to the atmosphere of this town. Also, I noticed no menus but instead, QR codes, which made me reflect on this presumably rural town’s relationship to modern technology. 

By making the effort to view this picture for five minutes, I took time to notice small details that I would never have if I only spent the initial 15 seconds viewing it. Since I took this time, I was enveloped in the hollow atmosphere this image inhabits, and it transported me into my memory of Waffle House experiences as well as took me to a creative imagining of the town of Oak Grove, Kentucky. Sitting with this image for such a long time did not feel like a chore but rather an experience where I sifted through thoughts, questions, ideas, and vibes. Before viewing this exhibit, I already believed that Waffle House was something culturally important, and through viewing this art, my previous thoughts were validated as I experienced this rich atmosphere without having to step foot inside the restaurant. At first, I only noticed the corn, but after five minutes, I noticed the world above and below that cornfield.