By far one of the best museums I've visited yet was the Tate Modern. And I've been to quite a few this year. In fact, this has been the year of art and culture for me, what from city hopping: NY, DC, PVD, Boston, Venice, Florence, Milan, and London. Anyways, I went to the Pop Life exhibit back in December. Verrry, interesting, and filled to the brim with controversial "art." It essentially consisted of commerce and celebrities as foundations for the artwork, most notably in Jeff Koon's and Andy Warhol's artwork. A celebration of American consumer culture at its unrepentant worst. And I have to say, that's pretty much why I don't always like modern art. More often than not, they turn out to repackage past work. It becomes more about media presence and participation in mainstream pop culture, eventually leading to emphasis on entrepreneurship.
What I began to see was a rejection of the romantic image of an artist as a solitary genius, embracing the role of an entrepreneur or producer. I suppose the point is not necessarily to create an original work of one's own creativity, but to produce anything that will essentially interrogate institutions and challenging traditional ideas of taste by exploiting banal imagery. One particular piece I can think of from the Tate is Jeff Koon's Glass Dildo. It looks like what it sounds like. You have been warned.
The art overall is in constant flux between mocking and celebrating traditional institutions, specifically consumer culture. The one that took the cake was the life-sized figurine of an anime character with impossibly oversized breasts, squeezing out from nipples what must be a ring of milk around herself. Form your own opinions.
Alighiero Boetti was who I was really excited to see. I first encountered his work at the NY MOMA, specifically his "I Sei Sensi." I especially love his pieces with ballpoint pens, which are generally interesting studies of the balance of order with disorder, tending towards the creation of a new form of communication. I was kind of disappointed to learn (from the side description of "Aeri" at the Tate) that he had practically nothing to do with the physical manifestation of his pieces of art, merely conceptualizing the idea. In general, I guess the type of art I like are the one's that use traditional materials not necessarily to idealize the heroic past, but to address contemporary experience with artistic (tasteful?) iconography. A perfect example of this would be Jasper Johns.
Alighiero Boetti - Aeri
Jasper Johns - Racing Thoughts (though he's more famous for Flag)
Anyways, by far the best piece in the museum was Miroslaw Balka's "How It Is." It was a pitch-black container that viewers walked through. The piece focuses viewers inwards, both physically and psychologically, as you enter into the darkness. "How shall I move forwards?" you might ask yourself, as you stand at the threshold, confronted by the darkness ahead. In choosing how to move ahead - to march in fearlessly, or to skirt along the walls, probably surprised by their soft, furry touch - you create your own journey.
How you approach the unknown is unique, and I love how this piece physically illustrated that. My friend waited for me to go first, and kept her hands in front of herself at all times. I walked straight forward, and it almost seemed like I was getting nowhere. I've since learned a valuable lesson - to be more cautious in approaching new experiences - a point I learned quite painfully by walking forward continuously without a thought, eventually smashing into the wall. I thought it would eventually lead to another opening.
I'll admit, it was a somewhat terrifying experience, but my friend and I found solace in navigating the void collectively with other viewers. Eeriest of all, though, was when you marched forward, and other viewers walking back exuded a soft, pale glow from their skin. They were almost like ghosts walking towards you. On your way out, though, people looked like the MIB. The closest encounter of the third kind, I think, that I'll ever get!
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