MoMA, et all

Today was MoMA day. By chance, we happened to run into an Elmira alum, Chris Josephs, who now works at MoMA. We could have missed him if we were a few seconds off in either direction, but fate smiled upon us, and we caught up with Chris--a business major at EC who got his MFA in Museum Studies and now works for MoMA. He worked his magic and slipped us into MoMA, VIP style, past the line that seemed to go on forever. In no time flat, we were taking in "German Expressionism", the latest, greatest show that MoMa has to offer, as well as "Picasso's Guitar". These shows gave us a lot of food for thought. Picasso's Guitars were multi-media and were a continuation of his own brand of abstraction, cubism in particular. We caught a closer look at his sketchbook, which served as a source of major inspiration for us. As you may or may not know, on this trip, we are required to keep a sketchbook, and fill it each week. Anywhere we are, we can be seen sketching--at a restaurant, on the subway, in the park, in our loft, museums, stores, etc. We keep these visual diaries as a record of our time here. Here's an example of a sketch from imagination:



Picasso kept a sketchbook, which was on display, that consisted of linear sketches on graph paper, as well as collages. He glued things into his sketchbook, which is a really great concept, and is something that some of us are already doing. This is the idea of the collective unconscious rearing it's head, yet again. On the last trip, there were words and ideas, such as "analog", that were "in the air", everywhere we went, these things were repeated and clearly a part of a zeitgeist. There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a continuity of that during our time here.

The German Expressionism exhibition gave us a lot to ponder. Art during this period varied greatly from Germany/Austria to America, and it was never so obvious as it was today. Weimar uncertainty clashed with graphic minimalism which went against the flowery, decorative, art nouveau of the belle epoch. Here is the MoMA link, you'll definitely want to see this show: http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1103

Over the past couple of days, we have seen some truly wonderful art objects, but the best thign of all is that we are here, in the city; we get to experience New York in the spring. Take a look at some recorded observations.





































We've hit galleries in Chelsea, the Museum of the American Indian, MoMa, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On our way to the subway from MoMA, we were privy to an annual occurance that has ever happened in the course of Project Dumbo, the Day of Solidarity. This is a day to remember union workers who have recently passed. These are people who build and maintain our city. Here is the link for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which advertises the service which we saw today: http://www.local3.com/?q=node/5142