Ye Olde Prospective Employers

JK and I spent a long weekend in scenic Western Massachusetts. While our friends' adorable two-month-old baby was by far the highlight of the trip, I will deign to report a few other highlights. In Northampton, I discovered my new favorite museum, "Ye Olde Watering Hole and Beer Can Museum." Featuring a world-class collection of nearly 5,000 (mostly empty) cans, helpful interpretive staff, and an excellent beverage selection at the popcorn-themed museum cafe, YOWaHO-BeCaM is destined to become an extremely popular cultural destination.
Just a short drive* away in North Adams is a slightly less compelling museum nevertheless worth a visit, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. There I saw what I might call the best thing I have seen in 2005, stage one of Cai Guo-Qiang's "Inopportune."(See Grace Glueck's spot-on review in the Times here and Artforum's vapid one here.)
I know I am a sucker, and I live in the most paranoid city in America, but I had to sit down against the cool wall and compose myself against whatever Mr. Cai was sending out from the ends of those blinky lights. I was close to tears, and accosted a kindly woman in a shawl to tell her that all I could think of was car bombs, even though the power of the piece was that I was actually thinking of a lot more than car bombs, but I was such a wreck I couldn't put it into words.
Despite having seen numerous pictures of the installation, I was still surprised and deeply relieved/moved/calmed to see that the last car (I think it is the same model as a NYC taxi -is this significant?!) landed undamaged. The following room, however, with its bombed-out fireworks car and a scene of Times Square swiftly reversed any calm I was feeling.
The tigers were super, too, but didn't affect me nearly as much. Perhaps if I had paid more attention during "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon..."
Anyway, if you visit MassMoCA, do save this for last if you can help it. The thing is, it's so good you can't bear to look at anything else afterward. Even Dave Cole's knitting thing (gasp!) looks a little contrived. (And, for the record, they don't have the 20-foot-long knitting needles on display, as advertised; furthermore, they do not grant free admission to AAM members without institutional ID.)


*It is divine to have a car at one's disposal every once in a while, though it pains me to admit it. (And a chauffeur -- thanks JK!)

Friedlander

My old friend DaBella and I met up at MoMA on Sunday with the vague intention of going to the Cezanne-Pissarro show (or was it Matisse-Picasso?). However, the exhibition was so crowded that we ran away screaming and accidentally ended up in the Lee Friedlander retrospective. An excellent turn of events. While our first impression of the show was a nice-but-slightly-creepy security guard telling us that "Nothing in here is as lovely as you two," we got down to the business of being completly blown away by tiny little photos of unimportant things.
Like many others, I knew Mr. Friedlander as "that guy who made the weird reflection pictures in the 60's." After seeing about 10,000 other pictures (the show was rather extensive), I now know him as "that guy who made a whole bunch of really, really cool pictures including those weird reflection pictures from the 60's and 70's, excellent nudes, some pretty but un-cheesy landscapes, and the best goddamn photograph of a fire hydrant ever; also, that guy whose life's work can provide a endless sources of creative and silly storytelling by schoolchildren not to mention 25-year-old arts professionals." Worth a visit, but you'll need a cocktail when you're done. And golly ... now comes the glowing recommendation of Terrace 5 (don't google it or you'll be scared by Dante). After considering the "abstract expressionism" I ordered a "cubism" from our handsome young waiter in an adorable uniform of penguin polo shirt and black pants. The bus girl (in the same sexy uniform) brought me a glass full of concord grape juice ice cubes and poured some delightful mixture of lemony vodka over the top from a shaker. The cubes instantly turned the drink a delightful rosy purple -- although, honestly, the color I associate most with cubism is tan -- and the only thing that could have made it more delightful was if Danny Meyer had invented some kind of grown-up peanut butter sandwich to accompany it. Kicked the old cafe's stodgy old butt even if I do miss the droog design lights.

VENICE

Venice was great. The greatest thing about it was spending time with my nifty Dad, but the second best thing about it was Olafur Eliasson's installation "Your Black Horizon" on the island San Lazzaro in Venice's lagoon. True to Dan Flavin's philosophy that religious-pilgrimage-type trips, or at least working a bit, enhance the viewer's perceptivity and openness to the art (or whatever it is that Dan Flavin's philosophy was), the almost-solitary vaporetto ride from busy San Marco to the wee island (which otherwise is home only to an [abandoned?] Armenian monastery) had me contemplating the horizon, and the marvelous color of light in the lagoon. After this the experience of horizon-inversion (a dark room with a line of light where the horizon should be instead of a horizon line in a bright field) was really neat. Not so easy to describe, so I'll just say it was even better than grappa, and just as consciousness-altering. For slightly more literate info see the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation, who funded the project. Thanks guys!

BROOKLYN

Today while I was riding my bike home from work, passing through MetroTech Plaza, some guy turned to look at me and said, "Hey, get a job." I might have been humming a Beatles tune, but still! I was riding home from work!

Coney Island - JK Shoots a Freak!

So this is M**k C***k guest blogging here. We just returned from a trip to Coney Island, JK and Lizzy rode, while I took the painfully slow F train! Highlights: Art signs, mural, the Cyclone, free beer, and, well, JK shot a freak. Too bad we don't have any pictures of that. But a nice paintball shot to the head, leaving a nice orange splatter across the 'freak's' forehead. Don't worry he was wearing eye protection. The cyclone kicked ass, if you are in the area get your butt on the cyclone, and spend the time waiting to get front row seats. JK and I got front seats on our second ride, and it is freak'n scary. You not only feel like you are opposing gravity, but you also feel that the ride will come crashing down bellow you. The 4G turns stick you against the person next to you, and the ride always does a nice little jolt, making one feel like it wants to come loose of its moorings. Thanks JK on the second ride, I didn't think I could have done it, but was happy I did!

Oh I almost forgot the infamous FREAK SHOW. We entered as Eek the Geek (that is chicken head eating type for all you) was lighting a flaming torch off of his tongue, because he was strapped into an electric chair and was giving off sparks! Then the amazing sword swallower swallowed a 2 foot sword followed by a 4 foot sword. I am not going to remark on the obvious fellatio jokes here, or else everyone will think that I am being a sexist bastard, but I was definitely thinking those thoughts. The fire eater was less than impressive, but had some great tattoos. The Block head put a ice pick, nail, and a SPOON into his naval cavity. Unlike me putting a corkscrew through my septum. The snake charmer who was dancing with the fat and lazy snake. The most impressive part of this was she tried to eat the snake, and it didn't look to fazed, I think they doped up the snake, and the amazing plastic woman (who was also the sword swallower), JK and I paid US$1.00 to see how she fit in the box, and if you want to know you will have to check it out for yourself and paid the US$1.00. It kicked ass! I'm now at Lizzy's place and we are having icecream for dinner.

Don't forget to check out the grammar Police record of Coney Island !

The Nomadic Exhibition Space

JK and I finally went to see "The Nomadic Museum" and its exhibition of Gregory Colbert's photographs called Ashes and Snow. The NM, designed by Shigeru Ban -- one of the horde of celebrity architects prancing recently through the pages of the liberal press -- was beautiful but it wasn't a museum. (After an exhausting year of redefining museums, I have decided that anybody who will let me in for free with my AAM card is a museum; the NM cashier was pleasant and efficient but demanded my six dollars [twelve for real grownups].)

Roberta Smith already wrote, more eloquently than I can, almost everything I thought. In summary, the shipping-crate building is cool but the photgraphs suck. If you are anywhere near a bus shelter or a copy of the New Yorker, you've already seen them. They are almost unbearably sentimental, tinged with a semi-offensive and VERY tired portrayal of "primitive" or "other" people as at one with nature and animals, serving as an inspiration for us harried, modern, sucessful city-dwellers. Or whatever. Cute kids in faraway places hugging elephants.
JK's irritation at the hourlong wait for a 15-minute visit was made only slightly better by the stunning interior and some delightful ice cream we ate while waiting on the line. I guess I'm glad that I went but it did make me kind of depressed. The place was packed, and while I am always happy to see lines for an art exhibition, my populism was strained. Are all these people here only because Rolex bought a lot of ads? Am I so out of touch that I am nauseated by something the "general public" finds deeply touching? Is museum architecture more important that what's inside? Sigh.
Anyway, the cathedral-like space formed by cardboard tubing was amazing (photo blurry due to stealth). And then we had a nice bike ride.

Another brilliant article in the Onion...

Yes, they are fabulously cool; yes, they love to satirize the museum. Maybe I'll write my thesis on the rise in popularity of the museum as on object of humourous social commentary ...
Check it out.