anarchy in the UK
well, im in london. its all very british. and very expensive. and im all very socially awkward. im supposed to be having the time of my life, and im pretty sure im not. but then why in the world would going to europe be the time of anyone's life, when in the last two years things have happened like finding somewhere that feels like home and falling in love? thank god this isnt the time of my life. its like saying high school, or college are the best years of your life... i think most of us pray to god theyre not. maybe im just being jaded or cynical or defensive because im so incapable of being anything but standoffish and defensive in my solitude.
the tate modern was really great, it has this totally different design than a museum like the moma or the philly art museum. while those are basically chronological, the tate is more thematic, so you see pieces like monet and pollack, or roy lichtenstein and marcel duchamp juxtaposed against one another in a way that is less common in the art museums im used to. it also does this weird thing of having descriptions of every piece telling you what theyre supposed to mean, or what the artist once said it means. on the one hand, i like it because it kind of de-mystifies meaning that youre not all that likely to pick up on unless you know all about the history of art and the social, political, historical contexts of an artist and his/her piece. it doesnt ask you to know everything about everything or assume you do. but at the same time, it feels like its telling you what a piece means, when often i found myself thinking what the fuck, that is so far from what i got out of that and it almost feels like it invalidates the possibility for interpretation and teh value of the interpretation of the viewer.
the weather has been gorgeous, sunny and hot everyday (and i thought england was famous for being cold and rainy) so i spend lots of time drinking coffee and reading in parks and courtyards and along the river. not so much time in pubs, because apparently in england im chickenshit about drinking alone *shrug*
the tate modern was really great, it has this totally different design than a museum like the moma or the philly art museum. while those are basically chronological, the tate is more thematic, so you see pieces like monet and pollack, or roy lichtenstein and marcel duchamp juxtaposed against one another in a way that is less common in the art museums im used to. it also does this weird thing of having descriptions of every piece telling you what theyre supposed to mean, or what the artist once said it means. on the one hand, i like it because it kind of de-mystifies meaning that youre not all that likely to pick up on unless you know all about the history of art and the social, political, historical contexts of an artist and his/her piece. it doesnt ask you to know everything about everything or assume you do. but at the same time, it feels like its telling you what a piece means, when often i found myself thinking what the fuck, that is so far from what i got out of that and it almost feels like it invalidates the possibility for interpretation and teh value of the interpretation of the viewer.
the weather has been gorgeous, sunny and hot everyday (and i thought england was famous for being cold and rainy) so i spend lots of time drinking coffee and reading in parks and courtyards and along the river. not so much time in pubs, because apparently in england im chickenshit about drinking alone *shrug*