Month: November 2009

Although we did negatively critique the efforts of the museum and its curators in the putting together of this exhibit, I see it from a different perspective. This was my first time to the MOMA. It was my first official exposure to any form of modern art. I have- until last week- managed to stay away from anything to do with that word, ‘Modern art’. It’s not that I hate or despise it, it’s just that I never wanted to be in a situation where I had to judge it. Its always been very subjective and comes down to taste. You either love it, or you hate it. Yet it is almost satirical that I am in a situation where I am writing a review on an ironic exhibition at the MOMA, the haven for Modern art enthusiasts..

In regards to the exhibition I was able to enjoy myself. It did provide contrast to the other floors and rooms I had to pass to get there. Despite the fact that many loathed the way the generation of Punk Rock-with its discord, and anti-establishment subculture- was presented, I did not. I actually had very little criticism towards the methods the curators took to present it. I understand that many believed that the order of the exhibition was totally opposite of what Punk Rock stood for, and that the presentation techniques were way off. The class discussed the polite and ‘dainty’ manner the curators took to organize the wall of magazine clippings, newspapers, and posters, as well as the short ‘cute’ recordings on Sony headphones and television. Many mentioned that the exhibition could not even be mildly compared to the loudness of the generation. The exhibition was looked at and seen as a shortcoming of the curators to present the dirty, nonconforming, noisy, and protesting scene of the 70s, but I hardly do. To me there was no lacking aspect of rebellion, or more space to fill, or a display that needed more of a ‘garage’ look.

The exhibition was small, but it did include artifacts from the period. It included many visuals and audio recordings that gave samples of what the era was like. There was a glass case of old newspapers, announcements, ticket stubs, and photographs that were authentic and not copies of them. There was authenticity to the publicity given to the New York City scene of Punk Rock. Overall, I like to think the exhibition could be summed up by the title of one famous Punk Rock Song, ” Live Fast Die Young”. The Exhibition was fast. It displayed everything in about two rooms, but it was a lot of information. What we first see is a wall covered in clippings from the era. This was the highlight of the exhibition for me. Although they were just pieces of what occurred, there was variety and history in the pictures. There was not a space of white wall on this wall, and this did create the loudness of the subculture for me. If one actually took the time and put yourself into the pictures, you could probably gain more from them.What the wall did was create a sense of busyness for the spectator. I did see people a lot of time looking at the wall, but no one saw the entire wall! There was too much going on. There were bands playing on the same nights at different locales, bands getting famous nationally, while others were rising in the streets of New York. Everything was happening at once on the wall. This was how the Punk Rocker lived. Life was fast and expected to be short.

Although some complain about how this exhibition didn’t capture the ideology of Punk Rock, we have to remember we are in a museum. There are some things that are impossible to recreate. Jazz is a another genre of music that exhibitions take on. Do we really think the lifestyle of the people living during  the time  of ragtime, swing, or bebop is captured in a museum exhibition? Jazz Clubs even try to recapture how the scene was, but can always come short of what it really was like. When we see an exhibition on the evolution of man, it’s extremely hard to portray exactly what the caveman ‘culture’ was like or stood for. The main goal was survival, do we leave such an exhibition nodding and saying to ourselves, “That exhibition made me understand that survival was the main focus of that era”? How do you display what these eras represented? With artifacts, possibly photographs, recreations, etc. This exhibition had all of that. If you really want to experience Punk Rock, don’t go to a museum and complain that it didn’t leave you feeling the Punk Rock atmosphere or weren’t ‘taken back’. If you want that ‘garage’ feel, find a garage band and go to their garage .

Our visit to the MoMA’s exhibit on punk rock was very interesting. The purpose of the exhibit was to inform viewers of the history of this anti-establishment genre of music. Punk rock originated as a way to rebel against the Vietnam War, which was raging on as this form of music began to take shape.

As you enter the exhibit, you are immediately drawn to the collage of newspaper and magazine clippings pasted along the wall. These pieces convey certain information about various punk rock bands that were popular in the time, such as Kiss and Aerosmith. After viewing this part of the exhibit, you make your way to an area where various music from the time is being played. Records are enclosed in cases along the wall, with other various memorabilia from the time being displayed. At the end of the exhibit, you are shown a video of a “game,” where two people move two stones at a time. This video was very odd because you do not know what the purpose of it actually is. However, it can be assumed that the sound of the rocks being put back on the ground is the music in the video.

The exhibit was quite short and the opposite of what punk rock stood for. Punk rock originated in garages, as a way to rebel against the “establishment.” However, MoMA has taken artifacts from punk rock and encased them in an “establishment.” The exhibit was clean and white, while punk rock stemmed from dirty old garages.  Regardless, the exhibit itself was very interesting as it explained the history of punk rock in New York City.

Punk rock is a genre of music that I never knew much about, and our visit to the MoMA definitely gave me some information. The exhibit successfully showed the roots of the movement, where it was most concentrated, and the key figures who participated in punk rock. Our class activity at the end helped bring all these aspects together and really helped me understand the origins and history of punk rock.

Although informative, the exhibit was not one I would have any desire to see again. It was small, a little bland, and just not at all what one would expect a punk exhibit to look like. For a movement whose focal point is anti-establishment, the exhibit appeared way too organized, not nearly loud enough, and empty. I do, however, understand that the movement has not developed into much of a “history” yet, and as time goes on, there will be more pieces added to the exhibit, and it will improve.  I did enjoy being able to listen to the music of the genre, and some of the pieces really were very interesting and evocative of punk, but overall, I think that the exhibit in its present state does not represent the punk rock movement well enough.

Herb and Dorothy Review

I entered the Macaulay Screening Room on October 20th somewhat skeptical about watching a documentary following the lives of two curators. However, I walked out of the room inspired. The portrayal of the sheer talent and determination of Herb and Dorothy was enough to cause anyone in the audience to feel as thought they could achieve anything if they just tried hard enough. The fact that the film had such a strong effect is due to the main characters themselves, Herb and Dorothy, and to the director of the film, Megumi Sesaki.

Herb and Dorothy Vogel are two people who started out with nothing but drive and appreciation for art. They learned about art as they went along, and through their kindness and sincerity, they were able to make connections throughout the whole art world and obtain a huge number of expensive pieces without spending much money. The friendships they made were strong, and helped bring them to fame, as well as some of their clients. They could have gained an enormous profit, but because they love what they did so much, they donated all of their work to galleries, so that other people could appreciate art as much as they did without having to pay. Their message truly came across, and meeting them in person really cemented the idea that if you do what you love, and are determined enough, you can accomplish anything.

Sesaki herself is an inspiration, as she began directing this film with very little money or knowledge of art. She worked hard to learn everything she needed to know, held many fundraisers, and made sure to connect herself to all the right people to get this movie made. All along the way, Sesaki’s love for the movie, and for art in general, grew. One can see the amount of effort necessary to create this documentary, through both having to obtain old footage and photographs and getting in touch with some of the Vogel’s old friends, and actually recreating scenes settings that were not available otherwise.

I am so pleased that I had a chance to attend this Meet the Artist event because not only did I learn a lot about modern art and curating, I also came away with a new appreciation for curators and for directors, and with a new outlook on life.

Upon arriving at the MoMA, I was eager to see the punk rock exhibit because it was a period I had interest in, but no knowledge about. I was quite surprised when I found the entire exhibit to be contained within two small rooms that acted almost as a corridor between larger exhibits. Expecting to be immersed in the atmosphere of punk, I was disappointed to see a sterile white environment with the artifacts arranged neat and prim. I doubt artists of the punk rock movement would present their art in such a way. I believe a grungy set up with dim lights would have been more apt to capture the feeling of punk, akin to a garage.

What the exhibit itself did touch upon included many of the central artists to the movement, with audio and video available. However, the audio was presented through headphones, whereas a live performance or music played over speakers (albeit lowly as to avoid disturbing other exhibits) would have been preferable.

Our class activity, however, was very enjoyable. The mapping of different clubs and performance spaces was very informative and gave me insight as to where the movement was concentrated.

This was perhaps one of the most informative classes we’ve had. At first I thought it was a rather weird assignment to write down places where punk rock artists performed, or were born. I didn’t think that any of those places still existed. This assignment proved to be very interesting and informative. We had to go around the room and really pay attention to the newspaper clippings, photographs, and audio files in order to find the places. After we wrote down the places, we went down to the education center and researched where all the places were. We created a key for the colored pins, where one color represented where the artists performed, another color represented the artist’s birthplace. It became slightly challenging when we ran out of certain color pins. Through researching where the places were, we learned more about those places and the artists. We discovered the pattern of where punk rock was performed. I actually really enjoyed this visit to the museum and learned a lot from it, especially since I knew nothing about punk rock before this

The Del Barrio Lecture was pretty interesting. It was awesome that we got to go into a studio and actually dance (somewhat) for a little bit. Before I came to the dance studio I was expecting that we would spend if not all, then at least a majority of our class time, dancing. The actual dancing part was really fun. I wish we could’ve done more of that. I was a little disappointed when Ramon Del Barrio spent most of the time telling us about his life. I wished he would’ve taught us some dance moves or got us to dance a little more. His lifestyle and accomplishments are very admirable, however. Even though he has not finished college, he is still successful and enjoys what he does. He seemed very comfortable with himself, and comfortable talking to us. He got us to dance, even though most of us were clearly out of our comforr zone. I found it very interesting that he has worked with Michael Jackson and other celebrities. Listening to him was pretty intersting. He has a very clear understanding of who he is and what makes him happy. To me it seemed that he viewed everything through dance. Even though I understand his view on life, I myself will not start to see everything from a dance perspective. Through this meeting I gained a slightly different perspective on life. I started seeing that every day things, such as walking, can be interpreted as dance too.

I really didn’t like the first part of the festival. The very first performance, Le Spectre de la rose, was very unclear, at least for me, as to what it was representing. Even after reading the description of what it was supposed to be about, I still could not understand how exactly that idea was represented through the dance. The next performance, Snow, wasn’t much better. It started off pretty interesting, I liked the turns and spins at first, but it was all the same throughout the performance.  The other thing I didn’t like about this performance was that I could see that the snow was of some significance to the dancer, but it was unclear as to why the snow was important, or really what feeling it evoked.  I loved the next two performances. The Dying Swan appealed to me at first because a Russian ballerina was performing. She had beautiful technique and accurately represented a dying swan. As I was watching her, I could invision an actual swan dying. This made the performance really enjoyable.  I liked the Alvin Ailey, Revelations,  performance too. It was upbeat and I really liked how they performed all their moves in unison. They also made complex dance moves look really easy. I would definitely go to another Alvin Ailey performance, or a performance by Diana Vishneva (Russian Ballerina from The Dying Swan). I would be reluctant to watch the Austrian Ballet (Le Spectre de la rose)  and I will definitely not go to another performance by Sang Jijia (Snow)