Christian Marclay at MOMA

I went to see Christian Marclay speak at MOMA on Monday night. I almost didn't go, but then I decided at the very last second to head over there. Three minutes later, I was sitting in the theater and enjoying a very engaging presentation that provided a relatively comprehensive overview of nearly three decades of his work. He's a pioneering turntabilist and has a much larger body of work than I realized. He's performing as part of Performa this coming Saturday night. I need to look up where it is taking place as I've never seen him perform before.

I think every contemporary artist who is in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art ought to be forced to give one of these talks at the museum. Clocking in at around an hour or so, they are super informative and very insightful. MoMA should post the videos online so people around the world could enjoy them, even though I don't believe they currently do that.

Museum Entrance

I've been taking advantage of my membership to the Museum of Modern Art recently. They have a lot of excellent events and if you're a member most of them are free to attend.

On Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., I went to see the movie Valentino: The Last Emperor. It was crowded, but I still got a good seat. I was thirsty so I snuck in a Snapple even though they don't allow food or drink at the museum. I feel like it is no fun to go to the movies if you can't have something to drink or snack on during the movie, don't you think?

Straight Edge in Your Face

A well-designed sign that is sure to prevent smoking.

I usually don't really mind if people smoke, but why do they have to litter and throw their butts all over the street? Don't they realize that it's trash and they are totally littering? It's not like those things just disintegrate on their own.

Preparing for Water Lilies

Workers install the signage at the Museum of Modern Art for the upcoming Water Lilies exhibition by Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926) who devoted the last twenty-five years of his life to the portrayal of the Japanese-style lily pond on his property in northern France.

This forthcoming exhibition of important paintings by Monet were created from 1914-1926 and it will feature the entire set of Water Lily paintings together with other related paintings loaned to MoMA from various museums around the world.

MoMA Cafe Lunch

I went to the Museum on Monday and had lunch in the very cool Cafe 2 restaurant. It's located (obviously) on the second floor of the museum and serves delicious and seasonal foods including panini, handmade pastas, salumi, artisanal cheeses, salads, and soups, and desserts.

You wait in line and then place your order and pay for it at the counter. Then they give you a flag with a number to place at your table and you wait for your food to be served. The tables are long communal tables and after a relatively short wait a waiter brings you your food. They include the tip (10%) in the price of the food so you don't have to worry about that. The food is really good. I had a Panini with prosciutto cotto, arugula, provolone cheese, and spicy mustard. It also comes with olives and pickled tomatoes. Delicious.

The Business of Art

The selling of art at the Museum of Modern Art. Artwork by Angus Fairhurst (1966-2008).