Art Fix

Today was free day at the Guggenheim, so even though my cold has been wearing me down, I decided to brave the chilly weather and head up there after work. They have some strange exhibitions right now, but that's my normal experience with the Guggenheim. Upon entering the museum there is a large Pinnocchio figure floating face down in a pool of water. And there are some photographs I didn't care to look at, but other than that, the current stuff is somewhat interesting. At least, its always fun to walk up the Guggenheim's spiral sloping galleries, no matter what strange things you encounter along the way. Today, as I walked that sloping spiral, I came across all sorts of different words and phrases applied to the walls and floor. There was also a gallery covered in fuzzy carpet, with large cushions and large tvs for people to sit and watch. I think it was videos of the featured artists. Then I went through a series of corrugated cardboard walls with round cutouts and weird frog-shaped lights. Along the way I saw some paintings from the permanent collection and a tribute to the late Robert Rauschenberg (a huge room of photos from all periods of his life). There were several galleries of photograph series, and the one I liked the best was a long narrow room with large photos of the ocean on one side and scenes of a snowy landscape with small brightly colored buildings. It reminded me of how I once planned to become a photographer who only took pictures that had something red, something yellow, and something blue in them. Like three cars in a row that are red, yellow, and blue. I know--maybe that's why I never became a photographer.

At the top of the Guggenheim is a very strange artwork. On a revolving platform is a bed, table, chairs, and a small cabinet. This is actually an interactive work of art--at night it becomes a hotel room for a very rich person or two. Yes, for the duration of the exhibition, people have rented the artwork, and have the privilege of spending the night in the museum! Maybe like in that kids movie, when the museum closes for the night and the lights turn off the Pinnocchio comes alive and gets out of the water, and other crazy things happen. I just hope the blanket is warm, because museums are always too cold, and the Guggenheim is one huge open space made out of concrete. And I wonder if it has a shower anywhere? And wouldn't it be weird to be sleeping with security guards walking around? Oh well, its completely sold out so rich crazy people must not care.