A visit to Mass MoCA

Had a brief but memorable visit to Mass Moca up in the Berkshires last Saturday. The day started out with me driving up to Amhurst to pick up best girl Katie Winston and off we went into the wild and rainy mountains for a day of art browsing and iced coffee swallowing.
Best best best of all...in the mega-huge gallery space was Jenny Holzer. The large scale projection was awesome on three fronts...you could lie on an immense bean bag chair on the gallery floor and not only stare up at the projection, but you actually become PART of the whole installation. This experience was very quiet and restful. Two, standing at the back you could "shadow play" with your body on the wall which would intermingle with the text. Three, on the balcony above, we could objectify the work as observers, and not participants. From that vantage point we were able to read the passages, and experience quite a different feeling than when we were lying on the floor. Jenny's text was a soliloquy to the Iraqi war. On the whole, the event was completely satisfying.

Now, as promised per our LAST visit in October with team members Justin and Keri, the Anselm Kieffer exhibit had finally opened. Better late than never, I guess. The monster-sized mixed media pieces were, as expected, awesome. 'Nuff said. The big surprise was the unbelievable paintings. Huge things with the paint so thick and juicy I wanted to caress and squeeze the things. All were interpretations of post-apocalyptic landscapes. YUM. Go see. That is all I need say about that.

One more piece of note...sorry, artist unknown. A projection of a tree that undulated and changed colors was mesmerizing. The Katester and I watched this image from 2 levels. Balcony, and up close and personal. Simple and beautiful.

Worth the trip north, Mass Moca never fails to please.