We got to the museum a little after 6pm and stayed until they kicked us out at 10pm without seeing everything Louisiana had to offer. We started in the Pop Art Design exhibit and snaked our way through the building. Fifty years ago in New York, Pop Art was acclaimed a new movement. Today Pop is considered one of the most influential developments in art after 1945. It used photographs of prominent media figures, brand advertising, and everyday symbols as means of expression. Pop Art Design is Louisiana's first major review of the material since 1964.
After we made our way through some of the permanent exhibits, we found a very interesting room. I didn't realize this was part of the exhibit at first because it was a regular looking door in an alcove that looked like it might be a maintenance closet. Not being able to read the language on most of the signs, I quickly walked past the door to continue looking at more artwork. It wasn't until Hannah told me to come check out this room that I realized it was part of the exhibit. The room was covered with mirrors on every wall including the ceiling. The floor had a small, black walkway 3 feet long and 1 foot wide which gave the illusion that you could fall off the edge if you made a wrong step. Hanging from the ceiling were dozens of little balls of light that covered the room. The lights slowly changed color creating a variety of color patterns. The mirrors on every wall made it seem like the little 8 by 8 foot room extended infinitely. We spent at least 10 minutes in that room looking around as the colors changed.
Arriving the day Half-A-Wind opened, we soon moved to Yoko Ono's temporary exhibit. Yoko Ono was giving a presentation that evening in the museum. Although the tickets were sold out, we attempted to watch the presentation from the museum theater, but even this was filled to capacity. We settled by enjoying her interactive exhibit. Yoko Ono is a unique avant garde artist and an influential pioneer. The exhibition allows the observer to orient themselves in central themes of Ono's career while demonstrating the diversity of media and disciplines. Ono expresses herself through visual art, poetry, music, installation, performance art, film, and events. The main element of her work is not material, but ideas.
In the corner of the room we found big, black, cloth bags and on the wall we read about a performance where two people come on stage, get in the bags, take off their clothes, put their clothes back on, exit the bag, and walk off stage. There was no way we were taking any article of clothing off other than our shoes, but we had a lot of fun playing in the bags.
In another part of the room there was a big glass box with a telephone in the center. You were encouraged to go through the maze and find the telephone. Walking with my hands in front of me, I looked like a zombie trying to find my way through the maze without smacking face first into the glass. Finally getting to the phone, there was a plaque that instructed you to answer the phone when it rings. Just a little hint, the phone doesn't actually ring. If you pick it up there is a dial tone and you can press the numbers, but if you waited for the phone to ring you would be sitting in the glass box until September 29th when the exhibition was over or at least until 10pm when they kicked you out.
Just outside the exhibit is a tree with notes hanging off every branch. The tree is called the Wish Tree, and everyone was encouraged to write down a wish, hang it from the tree, and keep wishing. Free wish, I'll take it!
I was continuously intrigued and surprised at the diversity of Yoko Ono's exhibit. Everything was different, unique, and at times quite strange. Yoko Ono is one incredible woman and I am inspired by everything she has accomplished, her peace activism, and not to mention she was married to John Lennon.
Moving through the rest of the building, we entered Tara Donovan's exhibit. Donovan uses simple, everyday materials to create magnificent sculptural objects. She created three different boxes made with toothpicks, pins, and glass that were each held together using gravity and friction. The exhibit was simple, but breathtaking. What appeared to be a big white wall was actually completely covered in straws and another wall was a thin filament. She also created an enormous black sculpture using a type of metal. Donovan says, "Beauty is inherent in the material itself, form follows."
Moving through the rest of the building, we entered Tara Donovan's exhibit. Donovan uses simple, everyday materials to create magnificent sculptural objects. She created three different boxes made with toothpicks, pins, and glass that were each held together using gravity and friction. The exhibit was simple, but breathtaking. What appeared to be a big white wall was actually completely covered in straws and another wall was a thin filament. She also created an enormous black sculpture using a type of metal. Donovan says, "Beauty is inherent in the material itself, form follows."
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