Dia: Beacon Experience

In one word, the Beacon experience was mesmerizing. Even though I didn’t understand all of the art or agree with the purposes of some, I definitely appreciate the time and effort that went into the artists’ work. I also appreciated the museum itself.  The museum is able to utilize such a big space and welcome so many different aspects of modern art. It must take a lot of time and energy on the part of the museum directors to organize and maintain such a beautiful space.

That being said, in terms of the exhibits, the one that completely entranced me was the Richard Serra iron exhibitions. I loved how the artist was able to play with hard and soft, combining the intensely strong and massive figures of the iron with the soft changes in lighting that occurred at different points in the spiral. I also really enjoyed how the art was interactive in that we were able to walk through it and be active participants with the art and not just stand back and stare. Being in the iron cone, I had a realization of just how small I am as a human being. Even though I, and many others around me, may sometimes think that humans are central, the Serra’s art makes me see that there are things much bigger than we are.

On the other hand, one of the exhibits that I really could not understand was the Blinky Palermo exhibit. I am personally not a fan of the canvases with the various colors painted on it, but in my opinion, the artist did not get his point across with me. In my opinion, the purpose of great art is to have an impact on the viewer and have him/her thinking. Blinky Palermo’s exhibit did not do with it me. I felt like a little background from the museum people may have put everything in perspective for me, but as it was, I really didn’t take anything back from that portion of the museum.

Lastly, I wanted to discuss the Metro North train ride there and back. It was absolutely beautiful. The combination of the Hudson River and the fall foliage of the surrounding areas made for a gorgeous view. That in itself was a work of art for me. The train ride personally made the trip to Beacon even better.