moma!

the moma surpassed my expectations. four stories of contemporary and modern art. the top floor showcased a special retrospective exhibition of jeff wall's work. seeing his work in person was a treat. most of the photography is displayed in giant light boxes. the size, light illumination from the boxes and the content, gives his work a surrealistic feel. although it seemed like some of his work could be pulled from every day life, it still possesed a dream-like quality.

i saw bill viola, andy warhol, jeff koonz' "basketballs half sub-merged in tank"! a fun super contemporary comic absraction exhibition, and countless other names that i wrote down.

after the moma i walked 20 city blocks to the whitney. the whitney was over-shadowed by my moma experience. but i saw some things i liked. including paul pheifer.

sun

i didn't like the met. i could have spent weeks in there. i walked for five hours, rarely stopping, with the exception of chuck close and the guy kicking the can in harlem, and i still managed to miss a couple of things. and it's not even like the art sucked, it was just like, cluttered. thrown on the walls. i would have liked it more if they would have organized rooms not only by art period, but by artist as well. but it was a beautiful day, and eveyone hangs out on the massive steps of the metropolitan museum of art.

i saw central park, and it was even better than i imagined it to be. although it's sort of separated into chunks, because it's so massive. it doesn't really feel like one place, but a collective gathering of large parks consisting of different things. lakes and lawns and hoops and paths and trees and people, lots of people.

then the guggenheim. beautiful interior, of course. i'm only a fan of half of picasso's work, and i don't like el greco, the other guy. but family pitures was good. i've been taking and developing pictures as of late.

gabe and i walked through some ritzy neighborhood off of central park. people recycle their expensive out-dated furniture on the sidewalk.

Harlem Globe-Trottin

we head north through harlem and the bronx and into a rural, expansive sort of new england, i wanted to go fishing. the dia beacon was large and beatiful and site-specific. then i saw a cab hit a motorcycle.

first sunny day

We all took the L-train over to the williamsburg area to check out David Kramer's studio. in williamsburg, people play baseball on pavement. and they hang out on street corners, unlike manhattan, where everyone is in a hurry. lot's of youth in the area, seems like the place to be. the inhabitants; many young artists with rich parents, living in overpriced studio apartments. in williamsburg, looking west down every intersecting street, are spectacular views of manhattan.

I liked David Kramer's work, it was very humorous. i'm not sure what to think of the guy though. to me, he seemed like an authentic loser, but kartz kept telling us, "he's a joker," "it's a gimmick." If he truly is the loser he portrays in his work, i have redeeming respect for the guy, exchanging his own dignity to gain a little respect from the followers. He gave us all some parting advice, "confuse yourself, get lost, find yourself." Thanks David, i need a little hope when searching.

First Galleries

in the morning we head northeast into queens. an industrial area full of graffiti, a great opportunity for photos and creative inspiration. the first gallery we explored, called the sculpture center, was very appropriate to the neighborhood. most of the gallery was in a basement of an old warehouse. in the corridors and hallways of the basement, you, at times had to search for works in the shelving systems of the walls. a lot of the art was video-based. with a few painting and sculptures.

lunch

the moma ps1 was my first large scale art gallery experience. there were a lot of big names in the ps1, i was enthralled to see jeff koonz and chuck close. they had a large display of work by vik muniz, i had never heard of him before, but it was some of the most interesting work i had seen in ps1. the work was decieving, from far away it looked like a collection of works from different artitists, but when you approach the work, you realize he is drawing with things such as peanut butter and jelly, marbles, diamonds, ash, sand, caviare, to name a few, and then photographing these drawings.

after art, some of us drank pabst on the roof



at the sculpture center


corridor


hidden video art


large building covered in graffiti.

Friday

friday, i met sam and crazy gabe. we wandered around the neighborhood and into time square. we ate hot dogs, soft pretzels, and salmonella poisened chicken kabobs. hagled by street vendors and club promoters, we found our way back to the hostel. by this point most of the rest of the group had arrived, and we later went out that night to watch the ducks in the tournament. 10 dollar beers, and 15 dollar hamburgers at espn zone. go ducks.

first two days

Arriving in new york two days early, I met my friend michael in herald square. He has a place in sunset park, which is the southern most part of Brooklyn. On the roof of his building is an expansive view of Manhattan fading into the distance. One of the many things that I enjoy about new york is the city's roof access. It’s more of an accesory than a physical part of the building. There is always a seat with a view.

I covered a lot of ground in my first two days, before meeting the group. A lot of tourist attractions. Walked across the brooklyn bridge. Saw ground zero. explored times square, which is not not new york, it is disneyland. and saw a celebrity (Don Cheadle).

also, while visiting my friend's loft in bushwick, i met an artist who has collaborated with barry mcgee. He had all his work on display in their loft. It was a cool thing to see before visiting the galleries and museums. a prefunk of sorts. so, he gave me a couple of buttons and a link to his website:

www.retardriot.com/

now here are some pictures:


roof top


sunset park


brooklyn bridge


retard riot art

New York Slice