This was the coolest thing about going to the New Museum today. Went to a block party in the Lower East Side in the Debra Roosevelt Park adjacent to the museum as they were offering free passes to the museum, that we hadn't gotten around to seeing yet. It was about 97 degrees at noon so we did a little poetry writing in the heat with the interesting poet/therapist Gary Glazner who works on the Alzheimer's Poetry Project. He very patiently worked with Natalie on creating poetry from the letters of her name and she enjoyed writing on poster paper and sounding out his suggested words. We escaped the heat for the cool interior of a Portuguese cafe nearby for brunch (on Elizabeth just north of Prince) and then headed over to the New Museum.
Thought the 7th floor with the wrap around balconies was the coolest in regards to the design of the place, but thought the space was awkward and lacking in curating talent. Read about the Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander's retrospective, "A Day Like Any Other", in the New Yorker this week, and was intrigued by the description, but I must say, the museum was disappointing as a whole. My friend Doug Wolens liked the dripping bucket installation, but I don't know, it was just pretty boring to me. There was a lot of banal video on display, but it felt lifeless and all the audio displays had the audio cranked way too loud to properly listen to. I liked hearing the voice of Keith Haring in one audio display but that was one bright spot.
The kids were on board with the first stage of the show, where you could take a ribbon with a wish printed on it. Leo trailed his hot pink ribbon from the stroller all afternoon and evening and was heard saying "Blue", in describing it's color. I chose a ribbon with, "I wish I had magical powers" imprinted on it and was told by the description to tie the ribbon on my wrist and that when it fell off my wish would come true. OK? We will see I suppose.
I also was dismayed by the layout of the place where there were placards repeated on each floor of Rivane's work, but with no new overview about what I was seeing on each floor. I guess I am used to the MET and the MOMA's clear and concise descriptions of what I am seeing. There were also little signs "Exhibition continues" with arrows but they just led to stairs up the back.
But honestly, the coolest thing from our day was the washable silicone coloring placemat by modern-twist that we bought in the gift-shop. This is a winning item, to be discovered by artists of all ages. The pens included have rich, bright color and the pictures are detailed and "busy" enough to entertain three people at once. A real find! I will definitely be buying more as gifts.
