We arrived at the New Museum at 3:00 hoping to get in free, my friend had thought that it was going to be free for the first 30 days, but it was only free for the first 30 hours. So... 12 dollars later we were entering the steel, drywall, and concrete palace that is the symbol of the modernist white cube. The museum is a great blank slate of opportunity that may offer up some controversial shows, complete flops, and what we hope will be some historic exhibitions.
It's amazing that the building cost 55 million, my friend noted that it felt like the "Ikea of museums". It's sleek, simple, kinda cheap, but nice. I thought this was the perfect metaphor for the New Museum, it was going to switch ideas and exhibitions the same way that Ikea changes their displays every month or season. I kinda like the idea that a museum will follow the current trends, and try to have their finger on the pulse of contemporary art.
The first show "Unmonumental" was curated by Richard Flood, the chief curator of the museum, and I'm under the assumption that he will have his hand in most every show in the near future. I'm not going to critique the show in terms of what I believe is good or bad, because I respect the fact that the museum is exposing a trend which is so explicitly revealed here. Most of the time curators are trying to find a diverse group of artist that are all making different types of work, but that have small threads that connect them either conceptually or visually. But this show blasts the strategy out of the water, Flood decided to choose 30 or so artist that combined look like a solo artist exhibition.
I felt like the show was similar to what I hope to do with this blog, figure out who's who and what's what in the art world. "Unmonumental" brings together artist making sculpture out of junk, found objects, and cardboard. They have commissioned some of the artist to create unique works for the show, one the most astounding was by Gedi Sibony. This guy was probably given 10,000 or so to make a cardboard, plastic tarp, and plywood installation that seems to have been dragged out of a garbage bin and thrown into the museum. The poor guide that is provided by the museum tried to explain this piece to me, and of course I asked her to explain it to me, since it was one of the most ridiculous installations in the show. It was pretty funny... the conversation went something like this....
me: so... what does it mean?
guide: well... it doesn't really mean anything... (she liked looking at it from a certain angle, which she positioned me in)... you have to get past the fact that the materials look like trash... this work is very difficult
me: really?
guide: yeah... i love the title (she walks me over to read it to me). I'm not sure how it relates to the installation, but I really like it...
The title was some pedantic bull shit that had nothing to do with the trash that the museum paid good money for.
me: wow... how much did the museum pay for this?
guide: oh... they don't tell me those kinds of things...
me: well, knowing that would make it much more interesting, don't you think?
NO RESPONSE... awkward moment....
To me, Sibony was fucking with the entire institution, getting paid to pick out some trash and display it... remind you of anyone... R. Mutt...
guide: We all understand that he is not the first artist to make art this way, but the museum was very excited to have him make this work...
me: wow... thanks for the explanation... that really helped...
guide: thank you for asking... (i think i was the most work she had done all day)
Recap:
- The work meant nothing
- was difficult
- expensive
- had been done before
- and had a nice title with no significance...
Now that's what I call contemporary art.
