So, I visited the Modern Art Museum last Wednesday, February 23, with Sara and Steven. It was an adventure to say the least. Although I don’t do it often, I thoroughly enjoy visiting museums. The sad thing is, I usually only visit museums on special occasions or vacations. It never really occurs to me to go to the museums that are ten minutes away from where I’m living. Although the Modern might not have been my first choice, it was nice being able to take advantage of having this artwork right here in Fort Worth.
Now, you might think that posting this blog so long after I actually visited the museum would be detrimental. On the contrary, I believe that it has actually expanded my view on modern art. This entire past week I have seen random things in a different light- a modern light, if you will. I have studied Modernism, and modern art, but it is entirely different actually see Modernism in action! The artwork in this museum was interesting, confusing, weird, cool, trippy, simple, and complicated (to put it into a few words). I don’t necessarily have a better notion of why these artists specifically do what they do, but I do believe I have a better understanding of the general concept of Modern Art.
There were a few specific pieces that especially stood out to me (for better or for worse). It was interesting to see first two prominent pieces at the beginning, Book with Wings and Ashenblume. However, Ashenblume caught my eye. Seeing it from a distance, it appeared to be an extremely large canvas with tree bark covering it. As I moved closer though, it became clearer that it was more of a dirt-like substance. It was amazing to see how the artist, Kiefer, used ash in a way that made it look like a completely different substance. Once I read the background of Kiefer and a little bit of information on the piece, it was easier to understand where he was coming from. However, with the combination of the ash and the giant, dead sunflower descending in the center, I was initially filled with a sense of sadness and remorse. When I learned that one of Kiefer’s main focuses in his artwork was the Holocaust, it seemed somehow make sense. This was one of the only pieces that drew a strong emotion from me, though. Many others were more along the lines of confusing.
For instance, in one room, there was a long, fluorescent light bulb that was lit and hanging diagonally on the wall. It was done by Dan Flavin, and called Diagonal of May. Now maybe it’s just me, but what is it about this that qualifies it as art? I mean, can I hang a light bulb vertical on the wall and name it Vertical of December and call it art? Additionally, on the second floor, there was a glass box on a stand named Glass Box. What?! This one didn’t even have an original name! I thought something was missing from it. The only emotion I had resulting from these two pieces of art was confusion.
Then there were paintings done by the one and only Andy Warhol. I don’t know what it is about his works, possibly the bright colors, but I really enjoy them. His self-portrait was one I had never seen before, and that was certainly fun to look at. It was a little creepy, but if it weren’t, it wouldn’t be the work of Warhol.
Last but not least, my favorite piece was not one of great meaning, but rather humor. There was not much background on this artist, so maybe this piece did have deep meaning to him that I am unaware of. Ultimately, I enjoyed this piece because I saw it and laughed out loud. It was called No Man’s land. The painting was completely blank except for the outline of the state of Oklahoma in the top left corner and a giant question mark that looped around the rest of canvas. The fact that this type of art had made it into a museum was awesome.
This trip to the Modern was actually more entertaining than I thought. The variety of artwork really surprised me. It also showed me how not all modern art is completely random stuff. Some of it has meaning, whether it is intending to or not. It was certainly interesting to see what sorts of emotions were drawn from each individual piece. Who knows, one of these days I might even return to the Modern when it is not a class assignment!
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