what i did on my summer vacation - part 1

Holy moly cow. well there went summer.
was it just me or did it feel like there was a collective swoosh sound and a couple blinks??


all the tropes of summer... popsicles, bbqs, corn, watermelon, maybe some swimming, a lot more walking, lazier days... true? perhaps. but also much more.

do you remember having to write those what you did over summer essays when you got back to school. little do those kids realize how great it actually is to reflect on 3 months.

the first part of my summer was spent switching the little's room to a more "big girl room". she picked the paint. we painted her room, the dresser, i took apart, moved and put back together an ikea loft bed by myself [there was some swearing involved]... she picked new sheets and curtains and a rug [all black and gray]. and a chandelier... i think that actually reveals quite a bit about her personality.

then i was frantic getting everything ready to send to christine for CHROMA - the permanent edition. and making sure big huge sheets of plexi made it to the site on time [there were some issues, but nothing that was devastating. thank goodness].

and then.... well... first i had a little art retreat in the berkshires. my grad school friend freddy  and his husband bought a 21 room farmhouse in the berkshires ! [yes ! it is as grand and funky and cool as you might imagine].


this is their stairwell. with vintage wall paper. it was amazing. 

they also have a yellow barn !




we went to the hancock shaker village



which yes has saker boxes. these were MINIATURE [died]. and yes. i am now thinking about getting kits and making them myself.  it's a huge place, and they've kept it authentic. you can walk into any/all of the buildings and just poke around. 

one they turned into a gallery... there was a cool maya lin piece in there


there was a working wood shop. [i died from the small boxes with small drawers]. below is a cool human powered band saw. 


a working blacksmith shop where we saw a guy make a hook. [he was kind of surprised how into it we were]. below is a cool nail "chart" i found. 


schoolhouse !


those pegboards really do come in handy. 


also a whole giant structure dedicated to washing clothes. there were low rafters in the attic where they would hang and dry clothes in the winter when you couldn't do it outside from all the snow. 

the wooden drying rack below was sooooooo beautiful. 



the next day we went to MASS MOCA - which is just massive. 



there was a small lousie bourgeois show. 


a turrell show - which was similar the the LACMA one i describe here - but it's turrell. can i see too much turrell? no. i can not. 



a once in a lifetime 3 floor, 105, made by 60+ people, you'll never see this many together ever again except the show is up through 2033 so YOU CAN, sol le witt wall drawing exhibition 


if you are unfamiliar with the work, he just creates the instructions. you, he, anyone can then "perform" them on any wall. 


my favorite was this blue chalk line one. 



SWOON. and i want to do it somewhere. like now. 


but the REAL reason i wanted to go to mass moca so badly was the nick cave installation.



I AM A FAN. seriously. his use of materials [ordinary and culturally significant, vintage and re-purposed]. the scale [massive and overwhelming - and yet still delicate]. the color. the sheer joy and play with the undercurrent of racism, classism, gender that runs consistently. 






i still can't believe we were allowed to climb up these giant yellow ladders to peer at the top of the chandelier island.


then we went to the clark.... as we approached i had a sneaking familiarity. the architecture, the use of materials, the walls obstructing and directing your view. it felt a lot like tado ando

and indeed it was. the frankenthaler show was lovely, and the collection there is impressive. especially the library and the research access


but really, really it's the setting. the view. there's a reflection pool that simply takes your breath away. literally. i kept practically hitting freddy and jumping up and down. it was just so beautiful. 


looking out ^^^



looking back at the main building ^^^ [these photos don't  it justice]

this visit  jenny holzer seemed to be following me around. there was work at the shaker village, the clark and mass moca. fine with me as i really like her work, but this little plaque seemed incredibly apropo ....



more on my summer next time.... 

Comments

Richard said…
OMG, what a summer you had! Just the art you got to see was amazing. Nick Cave, in particular, was breathtaking. And then the house in the Berkshires and the Shaker community and.....and.....and.....THANKS for sharing these photos!

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