|
A Child’s Visit
To the
Museum of Modern Art
www.moma.org
11 West 53rd Street
NY, NY 10019
212.708.9431
Pipilotti Rist: Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters)
November 19, 2008–February 2, 2009
(Pipilotti Rist Exhibit Web Page)
Paul Jackson, MoMA Press
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
December 15, 2008
(See November 18, 2008 Jazz Interlude Review.)
I recently stopped by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) with my five year-old niece, Camille, and her mother for lunch and a brief visit to a couple of exhibits. We had a lovely lunch at Café 2, where visitors’ lunches are brought to large communal tables, where numbered flags indicates their seats. This is a unique idea and eliminates the need to juggle heavy trays with pocketbooks and shopping bags. We dined on wraps, French Fries, and cold soft drinks.
After the Café, we headed right to the Pipilotti Rist: Pour Your Body Out exhibit, where the reception for the November Jazz Interlude Gala had been held. I knew my niece would love to experience the giant videos, chanting sound effects, and lighting that creates visitors’ shadows on the walls. There’s also a round grey couch with large pink pillows, for visitors to lie down and relax. There were many children enjoying this really adult adventure, totally oblivious to many of the images, such as a crawling nude woman on the grass, as the images were so hazy, large, camouflaged, and elusive. As soon as one image winds about the wall, another soon appears, like pink tulips, tall green grass, bare feet in mud, a large gray hog, overly ripe oranges, eyelash-facial close-up in double images, and red tulips. Camille loved walking and dancing with her shadow on the wall and followed the fruit and flowers.
We were able to see this exhibit while exploring various other spaces at MoMA, even on different floors, as the New MoMA was designed for such visual opportunities. With such open air spaces, we could also hear the chanting sound effects throughout much of MoMA. From the Rist exhibit, we explored with Camille a Pollack, a Giacometti, and a Picasso. For a five year-old, the Pollack (“One: Number 31, 1950”) was fascinating, with its raised oil and enamel on “unprimed” canvas. Its larger than life dimensions made it mesmerizing. One of the Giacomettis we observed was called “Man Pointing”, and I described Giacometti’s creation of sculptural space. The Picasso, a black-white portrait of a woman’s fragmented face, was especially riveting for a five year-old. I highly suggest making The Museum of Modern Art your family or school trip destination with young children, as there’s so much to explore that children can relate to and experience. The current Joan Miró and Van Gogh exhibits, plus the Permanent Collection, offer endless hours of such educational exploration. In addition, MoMA offers an extensive series of Education Programs. Check out www.moma.org to plan your visit.
Camille Experiences Pipilotti Rist's "Pour Your Body Out"
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
MoMA Visitors Experience Pipilotti Rist's "Pour Your Body Out"
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Installation view of Pipilotti Rist's Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters)
at The Museum of Modern Art, 2008.
Multichannel video projection (color, sound),
projector enclosures, circular seating element, carpet.
Courtesy the artist,
Luhring Augustine, New York, and Hauser & Wirth Zürich London.
© 2008 Pipilotti Rist.
Photo: © Frederick Charles
Pipilotti Rist.
Still from Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters). 2008.
Multichannel video projection.
Courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and Hauser & Wirth Zürich London.
© 2008 Pipilotti Rist.
Pipilotti Rist.
Still from Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters). 2008.
Multichannel video projection.
Courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and Hauser & Wirth Zürich London.
© 2008 Pipilotti Rist.
Pipilotti Rist.
Still from Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters). 2008.
Multichannel video projection.
Courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and Hauser & Wirth Zürich London.
© 2008 Pipilotti Rist.
Jackson Pollock
One: Number 31, 1950, 1950
Oil and enamel on unprimed canvas
8' 10" x 17' 5 5/8" (269.5 x 530.8 cm)
Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection Fund (by exchange)
© 2007 Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Alberto Giacometti. (Swiss, 1901-1966).
"Man Pointing". 1947. Bronze, 70 1/2 x 40 3/4 x 16 3/8" (179 x 103.4 x 41.5 cm).
Gift of Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller.
© 2008 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
|
