These are pictures from Chris Otto’s class on Sunday. First stop: Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) that greets us with a big “HI”. We started at the 6th floor and worked our way down to the main entrance. Chris wanted the class to focus on 3 things: 1. how each building is situated in the city 2. how we connect to it (the entrance: how the context informs the building and vice versa) 3. the spaces where art is shown: how the spaces are characterized and how the art is presented inside.
This was my first time ever being in MAD and I really enjoyed the “Second Lives” exhibition, in which artists chose colloquial materials (plastic spoons, eyeglasses, syringes, vinyl records, dogtags) and “remixed” them as sculptural pieces (chandeliers, butterflies, a giant wave, armor). This seemingly effortless transformation made me see these mundane objects in a different light, which I believe is a real triumph for the artist. To me the exhibition conveyed the message that you can find inspiration everywhere. Second stop: Museum at Eldridge Street. Our tour guide gave us some information about the restoration and history of the synagogue-turned-museum. And finally: The New Museum. We enjoyed the open view at the top andwalked down and through the large exhibitions on each floor.
***Sorry I just can’t help it…being starstruck. We saw Cynthia Nixon riding the subway!!!! She sat in the same subway car as our class! Strangely/luckily I was carrying around a camcorder to get footage for a different assignment for Douglas Ross’s class, so with the stealth of a paparazzo I got some shots of her…