My Exploration of the MoMA
Upon entering the MoMA I felt like I didn’t belong there, as though I was walking into uncharted territory. However, within a few minutes of beginning my exploration I came upon the Alighiero Boetti: Game Plan exhibit. I admired the hand-woven rug in which the artist had used every country’s flag to mark their respective borders. It made me think of every nation having its own culture that makes it unique and different, but in the end every nation is just part of something bigger. We all have our differences but together we make up the world. “We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. We allshare the same basic values.”~Kofi Annan
The second piece of art which intrigued me was Spiderman by Sigmar Polke. When I saw this I immediately took a picture and texted it to my friend, a huge spiderman fan, who loved it. We both acknowledged that it was a bit different to our preferred comic art style but it was a welcomed perspective. We figured Sigmar Polke wanted the viewers to look at icons, such as Spiderman, in an abnormal and distinct way than they usually do. It’s true that after seeing something so many times that one can get easily tired of it.
After that I roamed the rest of the museum just glancing at artworks here and there. However, I had my mind set on viewing Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. As soon as I stepped onto the fifth floor and saw how crowded it was I knew that it was there. There was a cluster of people surrounding it. As I stood there I recalled every time I saw this one painting and the many cultural references there were (such as episodes in Spongebob and Doctor Who -“Vincent and the Doctor” to name a few). Even the day I visited the Brooklyn Museum the ITF for my group showed us a picture of Starry Night to make us talk about art. At first I had very mixed emotions about Starry Night. I was disappointed because it seemed so familiar to me. However, when I moved close enough to see all the brushstrokes it looked so vivid and bright.
The amount of paint every brushstroke carried amazed me. I can only imagine what was going through Vincent van Gogh’s mind when he was working on this. No reproduction or photograph could include those details that can only be seen in person. I also saw another painting by van Gogh called The Olive Trees which had a very similar style to Starry Night. Once again the brush strokes were a prominent feature along with the colors. If you stare at it for a while you feel like you’re in a surreal world….or maybe it’s just me.
I’m glad that I was able to see Starry Night and visit the MoMA. I’ve learned that I can’t judge a piece of art just by seeing a picture of it because that limits the experience. Art was meant to be seen in person the way the artist intended it.
Posted: September 17th, 2012 under MoMA.
