More MoMA.

30Aug12

Having visited the Museum of Modern Art for a little while last week, I promised that I would return to explore the rest of the gallery and return I did! My first stop was in the design section which was inspiring, containing a ton of amazing solutions to problems in our imperfect world. There was eyewriting software for those who have been paralyzed, warm sleeping solutions for the homeless, futuristic food gathering/processing equipment to help deal with overpolulation and much more. There were also space solutions, especially relevant here in New York, where space is at a premium.

Here is the Tuttuno living solution, containing relaxing, socialising, storage, sleeping and eating spaces all in one handy box. It was designed in 1969 and kinda looks like something you’d get in Ikea, eh?

Being a bit of a philistine, I found myself more invested in what I saw here than by most of the art on display. Ingenius solutions to real problems call to my heart more than a lot of modern art, which can strike me as a little self involved. This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate any of it (otherwise hanging out at MoMA would be a little masochistic), It’s just more rare than something moves me… Though when it does, it really does. My father was an abstract artist and I remember him trying to explain it to me at length, sadly despite his efforts, I’m still left cold by the majority of it. There are notable exceptions and I respect all artists who invest themselves in their work, it’s just that it rarely touches me.

Of all artistic mediums, I find photography is the one that most often provokes a reaction. I fear this speaks back to the philistine in me, as it’s the most obvious way to convey the human experience. The photo below was taken in New Orleans, from the series A Shimmer of Possibilty by Paul Graham. It was taken in 2004, a year before hurricane Katrina. As hurricane Issac is currently ripping its way through the area again, I couldn’t stop myself mulling over where this woman might be now, and whether she knows that she’s being perused by the people of New York on a daily basis.

On the other end of the spectrum, this work by Franz Erhard Walther, First Work Set and Work Drawings. The work is described as exploring the borders between sculpture, drawing and performance. It consists of fifty-eight fabric pieces that sit in storage until they are interacted with by human participant, plus a set of accompanying drawings. The artist wrote of the work that “the objects are not important but rather what one does with them, what is possible with and through them. We, the users, have to do the work”. The ideas here appeal to me but, in practice, well….

So, I’ve spoken before of my issues with hipsters, which doesn’t seem to be rare or surprising. I think even hipsters have issues with hipsters. Three of the haircuts on display in this group almost give me a physical reaction though, urgh. It just makes me feel so OLD, I want to tell them they have such pretty hair and ask why they want to ruin it. Why do you insist on reminding me I’m old, hipsters?! I spied Mr sleeveless tied tummy blue shirt later on in a different part of the gallery. He was wearing a large floppy sunhat which appeared to have been designed for a woman. I wouldn’t have really minded if it was actually sunny but, you know, we were inside. I just can’t with this. Again, urgh.

Anyway, our merry band of hipsters and not-so hipsters climbed into this piece, called With Direction. They lay there for a bit, then popped their haircuts out.

They then decided to sit up in unison, although failed to actually manage to do this.

Like I say, I appreciate the idea behind this but I couldn’t really find any heart, humour or food for thought in it. So, for me, it remained simply four haircuts and two youngsters lying on the floor in a big bag.

Upstairs, an exhibition called Century of the Child, which didn’t allow photographs. Although I did manage this one of a very cute wee boy in the entrance hall.