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In the Galleries and Museums
Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art Website
220 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
312.280.2660
Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist’s Eye
February 12 – June 5, 2005
Susan Weinrebe
March 26, 2005
Ready? Set? Let’s go have some FUN at the Museum of Contemporary Art! This place is seriously into having a good time and flipping the coin of your thinking even before you enter the building.
The first hint that you’re not in the same old same old sort of place is the car and mini-camper parked dead center of the stair entrance. Well, maybe not parked, more like jack-knifed and plowing up the tiles on the terrace! Did the vehicle erupt from the center of the earth? Or does it belong to people who’ve just had the vacation from Hell? This outdoor installation, Short Cut, by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset is an irresistible photo spot.
Then you notice the three immense, yellow, anthropomorphic forms cavorting on an elevated plain of building. Looking like vulcanized butter, they appear to come from the same genetic pool as the Michelin tire figure. They are Thomas Schütte’s, Ganz Grosse Geister (Big Spirits XL), ushering visitors into the MCA. Once inside, the structure of the building is perfect for an all-museum show such as this. Expanses of glass and white walls create a sense of space and brightness that doesn’t upstage the art. Four levels, stairs, overlooking walkways, and rooms spied from other rooms, lured me on to explore what lay beyond, just as I’ve explored new places on my own domestic and foreign travels.
I’ve been told that a tourist’s lot is one of suffering, but almost every selection in Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist’s Eye, belies that pessimistic view. Instead, passion, beauty, silliness, contradictions, self-satire, and mystery are embodied in the artistic commentary.
Beginning with a mural, don’t be afraid, by Jim Hodges, that exhorts the viewer/traveler, in a clamor of languages to go forth bravely, these handwritten words by United Nations members in their own languages, usher us on a magical trip through a myriad of visions of elsewhere.
A reproduced Roman scroll, Roman Operating System, Project on the City, by Rem Koolhaas, Robert Somol, and Jeffrey Inaba, guiding ancient tourists hither and yon in the empire, papers the entryway. Germans celebrating the dress and life ways of Native Americans are photographed in earnestly full feathered and leathered regalia.
In other photographs, a donkey is adrift in a small boat. A bus stop is shaped and colored to simulate a strawberry. Las Vegas landmarks are designed to look like everywhere else in the world other than gambling nirvana. Thousands of sublimely beautiful landscapes from around the globe are grouped on a light table. All of these views invite comment and marveling at the sites and sights that know no borders.
But what if one is only an armchair traveler? Roman Ondak addressed that vicarious variety of trip taking by describing famous places to friends and family who seldom if ever left home. Their tenderly displayed models and drawings of locations they likely would never personally see for themselves, are his installation, Common Trip.
Inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe story, the film, A Man of the Crowd, by Matthew Buckingham, tracks a man meandering the streets of Vienna and sometimes following another person, for what purpose we know not. But we do, for a while, inhabit the viewpoint of the lanky guy with whom we are trekking.
Andy Warhol’s Double Mona Lisa, makes double [sic] sure no one will miss seeing this icon of art, just as a Florida orange carpet, an original if Untitled work by Rudolf Stingel, reminds us that art is all around, before, between, and under us!
Whew! No doubt about it. I needed a rest. Luckily, Vito Acconci’s Convertible Clam Shelter was available. I climbed into one side of the half shell and closed my eyes. Sounds of the shore piped from who knows where, almost lulled me into a power nap, but realizing that I was quickly becoming part of the display, I removed myself.
The glad exhaustion I felt as I wended my way through the show was a bit of concept art. After all, anyone who’s ever been a tourist knows the paradox of what it’s like to walk so far and see so much they’re ready to drop in their tracks, yet still want to go on. That’s how Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist’s Eye was – one delight following another, just around the bend.
A strong caveat. When a sign warns of sexually explicit material as at Thomas Hirschhorn’s several room diatribe, Chalet Lost History, believe it! Some of the graphic content including videos, magazines, and models of devices could not be avoided and cannot even be described in this article.
Since there didn’t seem to be any liter bottles of water for sale, I refreshed myself by descending the scrolled staircase, keeping an eye on the koi pond at the bottom as I went. Then I noticed a marquee announcing community outreach programs. Wow, I thought, this museum has it all: meetings for self-help groups each night of the week, with even a soup kitchen and a sermon on Sunday! The “joke” was on me though because America’s Joyous Future, by Erika Rothenberg, was yet another work of art! Insinuated next to the most sacrosanct of serious places, the ladies’ loo, it cleverly demonstrated, once again, the sense of play and self-satire I’d just spent several hours enjoying.
The Museum of Contemporary Art is a great place to visit frequently. Exhibits change often enough to keep the venue fresh and there’s a full roster of events. Movies, lectures, music, dance, tours, family days, brunches, and workshops are just a smidge of the activities scheduled. “First Fridays” is a monthly drop in for music, hors d’oeuvres and a selection of art experiences. Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant and express counter in an airy atrium, access a charming patio for alfresco dining when the weather is fine. Be sure to bring children for a visit that will engage even the young ones. On my visit, I saw many kids who all seemed right at home.
If you love to shop, you won’t leave empty-handed from the multi-level museum store. Besides the usual offerings, edgy and posh accessories for your life abound. It’s a true resource for unusual presents that aren’t easily found elsewhere.
Roberta in front of The Museum of Contemporary Art
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Short Cut - Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset
Ganz Grosse Geister - Thomas Schutte
Convertible Clam Shelter - Vito Acconci
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