On Boxing Day, I made a pilgrimage, along with my wife, my son and his friend, to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Massachusetts. We took the long and winding road up Route 8, arriving at Mass MoCA shortly after it opened at 11 AM. My buddy, Jim Healy, architect, JunkMaster, and creative High Priest, had suggested that we make the trip. The visit did not disappoint.
Mass MoCA features 26 buildings of converted 19th century factory space, situated on a 13 acre site. It is the largest museum of contemporary art in the USA. The gallery space is vast, while at the same time intimate and well organized. Sometimes when I visit a museum I eventually get that enervating museum-fatigue feeling, like, I need to sit down somewhere. I never felt that at Mass MoCA, perhaps because we did so much walking.
We viewed a myriad of works and media, far too many to list here. The highlight of the visit had to be the newly launched exhibit entitled “Sol LeWitt, A Wall Drawing Retrospective”, now on display for the next 25 years. This exhibit alone inhabits 27,000 square feet. Matching numbers hold interest for me, and I remembered that I once inadvertently received an electric shock of 27,000 volts through an exposed power line on my house (I wasn’t meant to die young.) As for the exhibit, whatever you think of Sol LeWitt’s work, this installation is a must. He truly did his own thing, went his own way. His was an honest effort, bold and yes, he attained beauty.
We had a great lunch, walking to a nearby café graced with diverse and antipodal portraits such as those of Jackie O. and Ho Chi Minh, before heading back to the museum to take in more art. For an instant, I thought I must be in New York, Seattle, or San Francisco, not within the cultural doppler radar of Hartford, Connecticut.
On the way home, we took to the snowy heights of the Mohawk Trail, now known primarily as Route 2. We pondered how this trail, which for eons was traversed single file on foot by Native Americans, had grown from an 18” width to gradually accommodate horse and rider, carriages, and later, the automobile. I wondered how long this bituminous black line, this installation of man through G-d’s sacred ground would endure. As modes of transportation evolve, would this road, this scar be allowed to heal over?
Rich, I’m thrilled that you had an inspiring experience not only at MassMoCA but also on your drive along the historic, winding Mohawk Trail. The idea of what the trail was like hundreds of years ago have inspired me within my art and furniture design.
ReplyDeleteAs you know I create my furniture with found objects and as little modern machinery as possible. My works are meant to look 100 years old and hand tools are my way of achieving that goal…like the Indians.
Driving the Mohawk Tail puts me into a state of “creative peace” and it doesn’t get any better then that.
Your art and enthusiasm has always been an inspiration…Thanks.