This past week we went galavanting! We went to North Adams, MA, to Mass MoCA. I had never been, and now that I’ve been, I’ll be going again and again! Mass MoCA is the Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art. It’s a beautiful drive from Kingston and well worth the time it takes to drive there, about two hours.
The weather was weird! It was 65+ degrees and rainy. It’s not supposed to be that warm in the last weeks of October. I’m not complaining; I'm just saying. It was cloudy and foggy. A perfect day to visit a museum.
I had never been to Mass MoCA. It is a beautiful museum with lots to see and do, We went on a Monday, and it was perfect. There weren’t many people, so our visit felt like we had the place to ourselves. We got there at noon and decided to have lunch before starting." There’s a small cafeteria that is reasonably priced, and the soup was EXCELLENT!
Mass MoCA is a beautiful museum that has a remarkable history. From their website: “The history of MASS MoCA’s site spans centuries of social, economic, industrial, and architectural change. In the microcosm of this one factory campus, it is possible to trace the arc of industrialization and post-industrialization of New England and, indeed, the world. The 16 acres of grounds on the Hoosic River in North Adams, Massachusetts, encompass a vast complex of 19th-century mill buildings and occupy nearly one-third of the city’s downtown business district." Listed in the National Historic Register, the site’s 26 buildings form an elaborate system of interlocking courtyards and passageways rich with historical association. Its Bridges, viaducts, elevated walkways, and red brick facades lend a distinct architectural ambiance to the complex, which throughout its history, has been a place for innovation and fabrication using the most advanced knowledge and technology of the day.” Get the entire history here: Mass MoCA
There is so much to see!" We started with Building 8: Sol Lewitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective. Getting to building 8 was an adventure in itself!
One of my favorite experiences was walking through the In Harmonicity, The Tonal Walkway. It’s hauntingly beautiful.
“Julianne's work is rooted in emotion, vulnerability, and the provocation to recognize and connect to one another as feeling human beings."Over the years, Swartz has returned again and again to using the human voice, recording both professional and amateur singers to create moving works that embrace visitors with sound and emotion.”
I had never heard of Sol Lewitt before this visit to Mass Moca. His work is very large. The Retrospective is on three floors. There are 105 wall drawings in a 27,000 square-foot mill building that was specially renovated for this exhibition. The work is on view for 35 years! You have plenty of time to see this incredible exhibit!
We had most of the Sol Lewitt exhibition to ourselves. We had a few Ferris Buller moments. To see more of his work, click here: Sol Lewitt Retrospective
I didn't mean to color coordinate! I love the richness of the colors on this wall. The texture is inviting; It looks like suede. I didn’t dare touch the walls! I really wanted to, though!
Next was the Laurie Anderson exhibit. I've been a fan of Laurie Anderson for a while but have never seen her exhibitions. I was planning a visit to her recent show, The Weather, at the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, DC, but the show has ended; the good news is that some of the works from that exhibition have come to fill one of her gallery spaces at MASS MoCA! Unfortunately, we didn't realize she was there until we were preparing to head out. Her exhibit includes two V.R. experiences from The Weather show in DC; reservations are needed. Of course, both were booked all day! The perfect reason to go back!
Laurie Anderson was one of Mass MoCA's artists-in-residence and returns to the museum to develop and discuss works in progress.
"In MASS MoCA's B6: The Robert W. Wilson Building, Anderson invites viewers to explore a multi-functional constellation of galleries and installations, including a working studio, audio archive, exhibition venue, and a virtual reality environment for experiences she co-created with Hsin-Chien Huang. Taken together, the exhibition highlights both Anderson’s creative process and some of her most unforgettable works. "
Laurie Anderson-Mass MoCA
One of my favorite pieces by Laurie is a childhood memory. There is a clip of a home movie projected on the wall, and next to it, A short story about when she was a child, she went onto a frozen pond as she pushed a baby stroller with her twin brothers in it. The ice broke and her brothers, and stroller, went through the ice! I won’t tell the whole story here. You can hear Laurie tell the story and discuss her movie Heart Of Dog in a 2015 interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air.
NPR Fresh Air with Laurie Anderson
In and out of every building, there are beautiful spaces. Everywhere I looked, there was beauty!
*WARNING: The following video may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.
The LED lights strobe in the slow-motion video.
This installation by Spencer Finch is gorgeous!
"The work's title, Cosmic Latte, refers to the name of the average color of the universe, which in 2009 was determined to be more beige than what has been traditionally thought of as blue. Two American astrophysicists studied the color of the light emitted by 200,000 galaxies and created a cosmic spectrum, which they then blended according to the light spectrum visible to human eyes. Finch represents that specific warm, yellowish-white shade of light with LED lights (designed to look like incandescent bulbs), which are then arranged in the shape of the molecular models of the pigments needed to create this "cosmic latte " color: titanium white, Mars yellow, chrome yellow, and a touch of cadmium red. " Spencer Finch-Mass Moca
I saved the best for last. Deep Water.
"Deep Water is the third of a series of rotating exhibitions drawn from a single private collection of music photography. The photographs here bear witness to a wellspring period in modern jazz and blues and celebrate Black musicians from the 1950s- '60s, including Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, and Nina Simone. "
It's a gorgeous celebration of Black musicians and activists. My love of music is on par with my love of photography. Can you imagine owning this collection?! At the end of the exhibition, photographs of the next generation of musicians, artists, and activists—including Labelle, Sun Ra, Gil Scott-Heron, De La Soul, and Prince are shown. Like a passing of the torch. These photographs are from a private collection.
A small sampling of some of the photos exhibited:
Once again, I’ve gotten to a point when writing blog entries where I know I need to stop and end the post. I could go on and on about how beautiful this museum is. But I won’t. Let the little bit I’ve shared with you motivate you to visit. I promise you won't be disappointed. I love how close it is and that I don't have to go to NYC or D.C. to have a beautiful museum experience.
I hope you enjoyed this tiny look into a BIG space. Another visit will happen sooner rather than later.
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