Architect as Dictator

In this Sunday's NY Times Arts and Leisure section, art critic Roberta Smith reflects on the growing success of MoMA's 2004 renovation.
I had great ambivalence about the renovation of the Museum of Modern Art. In its previous state, the collection, like a textbook, had a linear layout, moving chronologically and ideologically from one space to another, and needless to say, I knew where everything was. The museum was already lagging well behind the Whitney in terms of showcasing cutting edge, contemporary artwork, so why upset the proverbial apple cart. The new layout, in a renovation which cost a staggering $435 million, is more like a pinball machine, as you stand in the center of a space and have to direct your attention this way and that in a frenetic attempt to keep up with the sequencing of images. No use complaining about it of course, except when they relegated Matisse's great painting 'The Dance' to a stairwell. And to then see the cavernous, empty space of the atrium, at first dedicated to dwarfing Monet's once monumental Water Lilies (thus coining the term 'monuminimal'), it was enough to make this museum member want to barf.
And then something happened. MoMA became relevant again.
Architect Yoshio Taniguchi designed the space, saying that if the museum gave him enough money he could make the walls disappear. True to his promise, Taniguchi's design forced the curators to notice they were wasting this grand space at their fingertips and needed to make curatorial decisions to capitalize on it. The architecture lends itself to public interaction, a dynamic courtyard surrounded by sterile, somber chambers devoted to the static nature of painting. The contrast was heightened as projections and performers began to stage happenings, where the audience became part of the spectacle. In this modern-age coliseum, the walls between artist and audience blurred, a perfect response to the architect's directive.

Matisse at MoMA

I've always been a huge fan of Henri Matisse's work so I was pleased to find myself today at MoMA to see Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917. Their composition and color are about the sheer joy of experience, and to see some works in person which I had never seen before, was an inspiring way to end the summer this Labor Day. The images, completed during WWI and the cubist era, had a richness that surprised me, especially Interior with Goldfish. The images that struck me most were his interior scenes, with glimpses of Parisian street scenes out the window. The surface of the canvas, with layers of paint peeking out from underneath each other, were darker than his earlier fauvist work and served to bridge one era of his work to the next. The show runs until October 11th.

Picasso: Themes and Variations

Friday night at MoMA is quite like stepping into a Fellini film. Since superstore Target covers admission fees, every gallery is teeming with crowds of people. Last night was no exception. The real buzz was over Marina Abramovic's hugely successful interactive performance piece where she faces off with museum goers who wait in line to take turns sitting in the chair across from her. As they meet each other's gaze, the tension between the artist and her opponent reads like a life-sized chess match.

As for the other shows, the real standout to me was the Picasso print survey. It wasn't exhaustive, but it did provide a terrific overview of his themes and his printmaking techniques. The images of his different lovers provided yet another chess match-- this time Picasso making the moves, swapping one woman for another, using his pen to capture the whole dynamic on paper. Masterful in execution, these prints offered insight into the artist's heart as well as his ability to morph his style with unsurpassable ability.

The Dance

My plan was to do an entry on surreal-- and quite disturbing-- 1930's photographer Hans Bellmer. His images of twisted female mannequins are riveting and prescient, considering how a woman's body has become a grotesque commodity. Once I started the entry, it just didn't feel right-- that it somehow didn't fit with my March mode. Instead, I turn to Matisse and The Dance. One of my favorite paintings at the MoMA, its composition swirls the viewer's eye around the canvas, swinging up a leg, around an arm, sweeping the eye from one end of the image to the other. And don't you just love the dancer in the foreground who seems to lose her balance? The nude figures become less about being the object of desire and more about the joy of the motion. Even the ground dances underneath them in celebration. That image seems much more in line with where I stand, or shall I say dance, tonight.

The Artist's Eye

French artist Olidon Redon (1840-1916) is one of my favorites. His best pieces, some wonderful pastels at Musee D'Orsay, really just don't photograph well, which I suspect is probably part of the reason he's not as popular as he should be. A Symbolist, a precursor to Surrealism, Redon pulls from reality and dreams to establish his own unique aesthetic. As described in MoMA's Beyond the Visible catalogue, "Redon created a universe of strange hybrid creatures, offered his own interpretations of literary, biblical, and mythological subjects, and presented flowers in a singular way." His keen eye for color, his creative interpretation of nature, and his allusions to classical literature make viewing his work a visual and intellectual delight.

MoMA's New Site

The Museum of Modern Art has redesigned its website to reflect a more cyber-savvy museum goer. Some of the new features include resources for teachers, games for children, and a more extensive library of images in the collection. Here are some pictures I pulled which feature mid-century modern architecture icons Louis Kahn, LeCorbusier, and Mies Van Der Rohe. Do a wee bit of surfing when you get a chance.

Truth Within the Lies

I have just come in from a writer's conference in Manhattan. Not only was the conference totally invigorating in terms of creative ideas, I was finally able to catch some really great exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art before they close. Pipilotti Rist: Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters) is an electric experience, literally. By projecting psychedelic images on the blank expanse of walls in the center of the museum, the space is completely transformed into a moving womb. Another amazing show to catch was the Marlene Dumas exhibition, Measuring Your Own Grave. James and I have been following Dumas' career for at least ten years now, and are delighted to see her get the attention and acclaim she deserves. Her portraits, especially the loose ink washes, reveal an amazing ability to be complex and simple at the same time. Her images of faces are able to convey the pathos of a person's experience in a few strokes of the brush. Her potent mix of sexuality, death, religion, and humanity left a lasting impression.

Pre-Fab at the Museum of Modern Art

The "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling" architecture exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art not only gives a comphrehensive history of prefabricated residences, it actually assembled several on site so museum-goers can experience them. Perhaps most exciting was the Cellophane House, by Kieran Timberlake and Associates, a clear, modern box which used readily available materials and photovoltaic technology. There it is, a building off the grid, sitting in the heart of midtown Manhattan. True, the four-story residence is dwarfed by the buildings around it, but one can easily imagine it in different, and more bucolic landscapes. Perhaps prophetically, the newspapers today were abuzz with Mayor Bloomberg's plan to add wind turbines to city buildings as an alternative way to fuel Lady Liberty's torch. Imagine that! Already Roosevelt Island is powered by a water turbine situated in the East River. If Manhattan can be on the forefront of alternative energy, it could really propel architecture and the nation into a new era.
As for the rest of the show, it was a visually exciting place to be. From Sears and Robuck to Buckminster Fuller's pre-fab dymaxion dwelling machines, to more contemporary options (ie.,interlocking waterjugs for support walls, prefabricated modular cells)the show is able to offer possibilities of manufactured housing that's well beyond the double-wide mobile home. In an age where construction costs are prohibitive, providing people with aesthetically attractive, ecologically sound, and affordable alternatives seems like a goal we can all support.
In fact, it seems strikingly similar to Bouler Design Group's goals in the Hudson Valley. James Bouler and Nicholas Pfluger are developing a design division within Bouler Design Group called "The Living Machine." Inspired by Le Courbusier's modern design concepts, The Living Machine is an evolution from the shingle-style vernacular that is more prevelent on Long Island. Several of The Living Machine's prototypes are already animated and posted on YouTube-- see the links on the blog-- so you can get real feel for what it might be like to experience the interior and exterior spaces. Two models are already listed on available properties in the Hudson Valley with realtor Mary King at Village Green Realty in Windham, New York. The houses won't be prefabricated; however the design of the building takes into account efficient use of materials, passive and active energy systems, and labor saving structural designs to keep the cost manageable.
It's been exciting to watch the fast developments in architecture since our firm was founded ten years ago, and it's even more exciting to be involved in creating them.