Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I Attempt to Appreciate Art

Julie had an extra ticket to the Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling opening at the MoMA, so I Year of Yessed and tagged along.

Art isn't really my thing (at a museum, I'm more interested in historical junk or suits of armor than paintings or photographs), but pre-fabricated houses? I love stuff like that! Sign me up.

I always get a big kick out of soirees like these, because it makes for great people watching. People are dressed conservatively or outrageously (one long-haired guy had a stripey suit and round glasses - Julie said he belonged in a Dan Clowes comic, I'd say he was from Hogwarts) or ever so stylishly in a way that annoys me.

Hogwarts guy almost won Best Person, but there was one guy, Asian, long gray hair, chubby, wearing a bright red shirt, bright red glasses, and dad jeans. He was awesome.

As Julie said, "Who would you rather sing you a serenade?" and it's totally the guy in the red shirt. The other guy was too much like Carol Seaver's weird boyfriend from Growing Pains.

As for the houses themselves, there's several at the MoMA, one indoors, and the rest in a vacant lot outside.

The one inside was great! Post-WWII, all made of metal, it reminded me of a school locker. Walking through it was kind of like EPCOT Center, only better, and I really got a kick out of just locking and unlocking the door like an idiot.

It's like the House of the Future from the Land of Yesteryear. Seriously, stuff like this makes me wild, and I wish it wasn't so crowded so I could enjoy it more.

The houses outside were a lot less traditional, and I should've read more about them, because they didn't make much sense to me.

One was tiny, not that much bigger than my cubicle.

Another appeared to be made out of pressboard pieces (almost like a puzzle), and it was just one big room. The only thing inside was a model of the house, which, I think, also had a model of the house inside that.

One was raised on bleacher seating, so it was amusing to watch people try and get up these ridiculously steep stairs. Inside there were no doors- I couldn't tell if that was its normal state, or if that was modified for the exhibit.

One building was several stories high, all the windows made of glass (or cellophane, according to the website), and it looked like there were a number of solar panels attached. We didn't go in that one - the line was too long, and you could see what was inside, anyway. (Nothing was inside except people.)

Anyway, what these fabricated houses had in common was a lack of privacy. They all had either huge glass walls (some in the bathroom!), and one had tiny little holes of glass all around it. I guess it might work if you live in an isolated area, but otherwise, they were just too exposed.

Still, any exhibit that has stuff you can walk through is an enjoyable experience, but I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have anything like the Xanadu House.

I am not kidding when I say one of my biggest regrets in life is never having gone through it when I had the opportunity, I've only visited it as its abandoned, derelict husk.

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