The MET Visit

For my gallery visit, I visited the MET over Thanksgiving break.  I didn't get the chance to visit many of the exhibits and halls because of its enormous size but the exhibition I enjoyed the most was titled Between Here and There: Passages in Contemporary Photography.  The first half of the exhibit shows how artists between the 60's and 70's were drawn to photography for its many differences from traditional art media.  

There was a total of 31 works hung in a gallery on the 2nd floor of the museum.  The group of work includes both images and videos.  A few of the artists included Vito Acconici, Doug Aitken, Bruce Nauman, Richard Long, Rinand Jeff Wall.

My favorite piece in this exhibit was Sitting on the Wall: Haikou V by Weng Fen.  Fen belongs to a generation of photographers that focus on Chinese social, economical, and political change.  Many of his photographs feature school girls with their backs to the camera, staring at architectural figures.  I believe that this photo represents a young, traditional girl looking at the rapidly changing society in which she grows up in.

Mass MoCa Visit

I recently visited the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art or more commonly known as the Mass Moca, in North Adams, Mass.  The size of the museum is extremely overwhelming as it is housed in a variety of old factory buildings, dating back to 1872.  The Mass Moca opened its doors in 1999 but started the process of raising funds in 1986.  It is the largest center for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the country.

The exhibit that I found most interesting at the museum was Material World: Sculpture to Environment which will be running until February 2011.  They transformed the factory space, using a variety of industrial produced materials to make up their exhibits.  There are around seven different artists who have been involved in exhibit.  They are using ordinary, everyday materials to create these different exhibits of installation art.  The two pieces that really caught my attention in the exhibit were The Geometry of Light and Big Boss.  

The piece, Big Boss, by Orly Genger and it is made up of 100 miles painted red knotted rope.  The piece is overwhelming in size as it sprawls out onto the floor.  It reminds me of a waterfall, the way it comes up from the way it comes out onto the floor.  After looking at information on the work, I came to understand that Orly is attempting to show the different between masculinity and feminist.  She is using knotted ropes which are extremely heavy but also incorporates a knitting technique. 

The second piece that I really enjoyed was Geometry of Light, by Alyson Shotz.  This piece was beautiful, made up of strands of wire holding together lens plates and silver glass beads.  It reflected the light, making it shimmer and reminded me of a cob web covered in dew.  The shadows that came off the piece were very impressive.  Through research I was able to find that Shotz is very interesting in incorporating contrast in her pieces. 

        Over all I really enjoyed my visit to the Mass MoCa.  The museum was massive and it would take forever to get through the entire space.  I thought this exhibit was great and would love to go back another time to view more. 

Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla

Allora and Calzadilla began working together in the mid-1990's by approaching visual art as a set of experiments.  They specialize in making social, cultural, and political metaphors out of basic materials, such as the picture above titled the "Discussion Table."  They have developed installations, videos, performances, social interactions, work in public space, photos, and collages. Their work is characterized by a sense of playfulness, humour, and social involvement, focused upon local situations.  I find their work very interesting because each piece tells a different story.  One exhibit called "Sweat Glands" featured a video of a man roasting a pig by simply pushing on the gas pedal of his car.  I believe that almost every piece they show is an attempt to teach the public something or share a certain part of a culture.

Dave Hickey

I agree with Kait, this piece does really remind me of Mona Lisa's Curse.  It discusses the issue of artists caring more about money than art.  Hckey says that there are people out there that really care about art, but there are a lot more than care about the money.  He believes that people are selling out.  In the past people did not get into the art world to make money, it was for a passion, but today people are too focused on the money.  He basically implies that money is not everything, its benefits are great but it just buys you objects.  He says that art dealers are not dealing art but are just selling, basing prices of art on the artists name. 

Custodians of Culture

Similar to "The Mona Lisa Curse," Hickey describes the issue of money and art in our current culture.  He describes that artists go into the art world for the sole purpose of making money, instead of enjoying the talents that they possess while making their art.  He describes that the "art bubble" suck money into the art world, and greedy artists and stupid collectors get stuck in this system.  Non-commercial art, which was created in the 70's, is very different from art that just does not sell.  This non-commercial art paid very well to the artists.  The invention of this allowed the separation between institutional world and the private world.  Non commercial art is economically beneficial for the institution.

Andrea Zittel

I found Andrea Zittel's art to be very different.  She seems conservative and does not need many materialistic items to be happy. She sometimes lives off just one outfit for a whole month, and is used to living in small spaces.  During her childhood, her family was always traveling across country in a small RV.  I found her one piece of art, the one where she lives in the middle of an area of water on a small island she built, to be very daring.  She lived on the island by herself with no contact to other people with the exception of once or twice.  She devotes her life to her work and makes many sacrifices to make her art known.

Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel is a very unique artist who has a very different look on life.  She seems to look at things with an eye of a minimalist, living life with a single outfit for every four weeks and in small spaces.  Zittel is most known for her "Living Units", an experimental piece in which you live and only have necessities.  What really caught my attention about Zittel, was the personal fantasy island she created in 1999.  The 44-ton island, located off the coast of Denmark was where Zittel lived for a month.  She stated that she was interested in living there to get away from everyone.  She wanted to be isolated and enjoy her space.  I think that it would be so weird if we all lived on our own islands.  Although it might be cool to move the island throughout the world, it would be very difficult and ridiculous.  I think that people need socialization to in order to survive and stay sane.  What I was wondering was, what if something happened to her on the island, what would she do?  Was there electricity and running water?