Savage Beauty
Saw the Alexander McQueen exhibit last night at the Met(ropolitan Museum). Friends had harrowing tales to tell of the lines this week, but we somehow found the sweet spot and missed the worst of it. There are 3 lines you must engage with:
(1) Getting into the museum building.
This can involve standing outdoors and snaking into Central Park in the blazing sun. But we went at 7 pm when it was raining, and few people were there (I guess just the subset of the ones who'd heard that the museum would be open for the exhibit til midnight, and didn't fear melting). There were 3 lines, 2 going up on either side of the great steps, and 1 at the ground floor entrance at 81st, by far the shortest. We waltzed in there in < 15 minutes.
(2) Getting your entry badge from the admissions folks
We just walked up to the Member Desk & displayed our cards to receive badges - but in fact, the lines for regular admission were very short then, too.
(3) The Grand Tour
When we joined the line to get into the exhibit, the sign promised a 5-hour wait. But what did the line snake through? THE MUSEUM! So we looked at things on the wall all the way through. We picked which single piece of Chinese porcelain we would choose from each case we passed. We marveled at the 4,000 yr old silverwork of the Bactrians (who?) and the taste of the 19c in paintings (smarmy nymphs w/veils, oh my!). We talked about Life - I regaled my nephew with tales of the idiocies I committed in my 20s, hoping to give him heart as he enters his own . . . . We people-watched and Tweeted (me) and Facebooked (Delia) our progress - and in 2 short HOURS we found ourselves inside the exhibit itself.
It is All That and More. It's not just looking at a bunch of amazing dresses that are in fact interstitial works of art; it's an entire Installation with music and sets and video & holograms.
If you can't see it, there is a plethora of pictures on the web, and the exhibit catalogue is well worth getting. But if you're in town and want to give it a try, today is the final day and the museum is OPEN TIL MIDNIGHT, and I would say:
a) Get on line in the rain they promise is coming, or at least after 7pm so you're not standing outdoors in the blazing sun.
b) Last night, at least, they were LETTING PEOPLE INTO THE MUSEUM til MIDNIGHT - it's not as if you need to be there by 10pm because they chase you out at 12. I didn't realize that. Though when we left ca. 10:30, the lines were longer than when we'd gotten there at 7. And let's face it, tonight's going to be a madhouse. But witnessing that is part of the fun.
c) Thank the guards - they're working crazy hours, and they look tired.
(1) Getting into the museum building.
This can involve standing outdoors and snaking into Central Park in the blazing sun. But we went at 7 pm when it was raining, and few people were there (I guess just the subset of the ones who'd heard that the museum would be open for the exhibit til midnight, and didn't fear melting). There were 3 lines, 2 going up on either side of the great steps, and 1 at the ground floor entrance at 81st, by far the shortest. We waltzed in there in < 15 minutes.
(2) Getting your entry badge from the admissions folks
We just walked up to the Member Desk & displayed our cards to receive badges - but in fact, the lines for regular admission were very short then, too.
(3) The Grand Tour
When we joined the line to get into the exhibit, the sign promised a 5-hour wait. But what did the line snake through? THE MUSEUM! So we looked at things on the wall all the way through. We picked which single piece of Chinese porcelain we would choose from each case we passed. We marveled at the 4,000 yr old silverwork of the Bactrians (who?) and the taste of the 19c in paintings (smarmy nymphs w/veils, oh my!). We talked about Life - I regaled my nephew with tales of the idiocies I committed in my 20s, hoping to give him heart as he enters his own . . . . We people-watched and Tweeted (me) and Facebooked (Delia) our progress - and in 2 short HOURS we found ourselves inside the exhibit itself.
It is All That and More. It's not just looking at a bunch of amazing dresses that are in fact interstitial works of art; it's an entire Installation with music and sets and video & holograms.
If you can't see it, there is a plethora of pictures on the web, and the exhibit catalogue is well worth getting. But if you're in town and want to give it a try, today is the final day and the museum is OPEN TIL MIDNIGHT, and I would say:
a) Get on line in the rain they promise is coming, or at least after 7pm so you're not standing outdoors in the blazing sun.
b) Last night, at least, they were LETTING PEOPLE INTO THE MUSEUM til MIDNIGHT - it's not as if you need to be there by 10pm because they chase you out at 12. I didn't realize that. Though when we left ca. 10:30, the lines were longer than when we'd gotten there at 7. And let's face it, tonight's going to be a madhouse. But witnessing that is part of the fun.
c) Thank the guards - they're working crazy hours, and they look tired.