The Unbearable Banishment: Met mish mash mosh

Friday, July 27, 2012

Met mish mash mosh

It has come to my attention that my last few posts have been fairly dreary affairs. Musings on my advanced age, suburban ennui, the ills of our gun-toting society and scars from my youth do not make for pleasant reading. (Although my comment section has been on fire, so perhaps that's what people prefer.)

Going forward, I'll leave that stuff to Jimmy Bastard. (May he return to us soon.) As penance, I offer this photo montage of our recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We visited specifically to see the annual summer rooftop sculpture extravaganza, but I'll leave that for another post. Here's the flotsam and jetsam that I found in my iPhone when I got back to New Jersey.

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In this accidental perspective, John Graham's Celia seems to be patting 6-Year Old on top of her head. Noguchi's Louros is her dance partner and Calder's Mobile stands in as the mirrored disco ball. I don't think she enjoyed the museum all that much. She seemed bored at times. But I think the exposure is important. When she's older, she'll have a level of familiarity and won't feel intimidated by broad-concept art.


I asked 10-Year Old why she was taking a photo of Monet's Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies and she said she needed a new screen saver for her iTouch. The apple never falls far from the tree. That's both good and bad news for her.


Mrs. Wife and I are big advocates of getting an early start in the morning. This especially comes in handy when visiting the city. Driving through an empty Lincoln Tunnel and having entire galleries in the Met all to yourself is worth the loss of sleep. Here, 6-Year Old works out Pollock's Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) and doesn't have to peer through a thicket of legs.


We look like a set of matryoshka dolls. This is Anish Kapoor's fantastic sculpture Untitled. It's a series of hexagon mirrors that curve out into a bowl shape. Mrs. Wife can't stand in front of it for too long because it makes her nauseous. I love his stuff although I'm on the fence about his ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower he constructed for the London Olympics.


In Morris Louis' Alpha-Pi, all roads lead to the center, so I though it'd make for an interesting shot to plant here there. It also establishes a perspective on size.


I've been reading a children's book about the story of Degas's little dancer to her for years. We must've read that damn thing dozens of times. She'd been constantly haranguing me about taking her in for a visit and this is her first look. As she gets older, wish fulfillment will become more complex.


Surrounded by The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog), Rouen Cathedral: The Portal and Haystacks (Effect of Snow and Sun), she is sandwiched between tens of millions of dollars worth of wood, paint and canvas by Monet. Change one letter and Monet becomes Money. If we had arrived one hour later, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near these works because of the throngs of tourists. Early on is the way to go!

14 Comments:

Blogger dinahmow said...

D'you know what I'd like? I would like to "do" NY museums with your daughters.
(Bugger! If the comment police are reading that's going to sound really creepy! )
UB, I have said before that I think you are a great Dad to let your kids absorb art. As opposed to shoving it at them in later years.

July 27, 2012 at 5:44 AM  
Blogger Gorilla Bananas said...

I'm glad you're an early riser. If you visit my tribe in the Congo, I'll assign you to the dawn foraging party. Got to grab those nuts before the baboons get 'em!

July 27, 2012 at 6:01 AM  
Blogger The Unbearable Banishment said...

Dinah: Take 'em! Take 'em for the entire weekend if you prefer! I could certainly use the break and the exposure to a lovely person like yourself would do them a world of good.

GB: If and when I visit, I'll expect to be waited on. Do you monkeys put all your guests to work?! No wonder you're still evolving.

July 27, 2012 at 6:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gosh you're lucky to have such a museum near you. Morris Louis -- I've loved his work since I found it in Edward Lucie-Smith's book "Modern Art Since 1945" which I read and re-read over and over again in my adolescence. I love that "colour field" style, I think it's called.

Anish Kapoor--unfortunately any admiratino I might have once had for him as an artist has vanished now, with his kowtowing to money and power, an example of which you give. A million pound plus empty home of his in London is being squatted at the moment by some art activists. From Mr Kapoor -- silence, on the terrible squandering, privileged waste of leaving a large house in a fashionable suburb of London empty.

July 27, 2012 at 6:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh btw, the introduction to this post is cobblers.

July 27, 2012 at 6:50 AM  
Anonymous daisyfae said...

we all have our darkness, dear. and we blog to get it out, right? well.... that's why i blog. and the darker the subject matter? the higher my stats.

LOVE the museum pics! i should totally be your kids "Auntie Mame" and teach them to light my cigarettes and tend bar... they are incredibly sweet! must correct that.

July 27, 2012 at 7:16 AM  
Blogger The Unbearable Banishment said...

looby: I have to admit that I was taken aback when I found out how astonishingly wealthy Kapoor is. Art has morphed into commerce for him, as it would for me, given the chance. I'd sell ad space on this blog in a heartbeat if I had the numbers to sustain it. Who am I to criticize? But the tower is a bit of a sloppy mess.

daisy: I think the girls could use you in their lives. There are no sharp edges in the suburbs of New Jersey. Only blunted round corners. You could provide a (how shall I put this?) different perspective.

July 27, 2012 at 7:31 AM  
Blogger Pat said...

What a feast you have given them. Lucky girls.
If that is the bridge at Monet's garden at Giverny I have photos of it. Unfortunately I gave my scanner away as it is incompatible with my new computer.
Wait till you get them to Paris!

July 29, 2012 at 9:00 AM  
Blogger Twisted Scottish Bastard said...

Lovely.

I can spend hours in galleries of such quality.

Mind you, you can get too much of a good thing.

My son and I spent almost a full day in the Louvre, and by the end of it, I was arted out.

July 29, 2012 at 7:25 PM  
Blogger The Unbearable Banishment said...

Pat: What do you mean when I get them to Paris?! If there's an opportunity to go to France, I'm taking my wife and my wife alone. They're going to have to get there on their own time and their own dime.

TSB: I'm EASILY burned out in a museum from too much visual stimulation. After about two hours I'm ready for a nap. When you visit something as grand as the Louvre, you have to decide which corner interests you most and concentrate on that.

July 30, 2012 at 7:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm glad you take them, much more interesting for them than the Pro Football Hall of fame.....I see K likes her purse that her favorite aunt gave her. That made my day :)
MT

July 30, 2012 at 8:58 AM  
Blogger mapstew said...

I have one like the Pollock, an original too, unfortunately by an as yet unknown artist by the name of Martin S. :¬)

I love going to the galleries & museums with my girls, we've been to the Louvre a few times. :¬)

July 30, 2012 at 9:10 PM  
Blogger The Unbearable Banishment said...

MT: Do you know why we remember that Hall of Fame trip so vividly? Because it's the ONLY TRIP WE EVER WENT ON. And, yes, K knows a good fashion accessory when she sees one.

map: Can you post pics of your artwork? Don't be shy.

July 31, 2012 at 7:10 AM  
Blogger Ellie said...

I hope you realize and are proud of the gift you are giving your girls. I still remember the trips my mother took with me to museums and ballet and they have stuck with me for life. Alexander Calder is my favourite. I wanted him to be my grandfather.

August 2, 2012 at 1:34 PM  

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