Erasing the "Huh?" from Abstract Art

I recently visited the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) for the first time and loved it. If you go, go to the downtown location on Grand Ave. The MOCA has two other locations in L.A. besides the one on Grand - one is currently closed, and the other one is in WeHo next to the Pacific Design Center.


The WeHo one is free but it only has one small room that at this time has only one large piece of art (seen below).


I was ready to go in about 2 minutes, but my Dad sat and stared at it for at least thirty. It was actually quite cute - he would look at it with a very pensive look on his face, scanning it as if doing some sort of mathematical equation in his head.

After that, we headed over to the one downtown. Below is the sculpture they have out front, made from the parts of planes and other industrial things.



The exhibit inside was great - they have a temporary exhibit from one artist and a more permanent collection from several different ones. The best part was the tour we went on for the temporary exhibit - it really gave us a perspective on how to look at the art and what ideas the artist was exploring with his work. What I learned most from the tour was learning how to appreciate art as an experience and not necessarily as an intellectual exercise.

For example, when looking at a Jackson Pollock (the guy who dribbles paint on a canvas), don't necessarily think "What does this mean? What is the artist trying to say?" Look at it and feel something - the passion, the energy, the movement. The way the artist seems to erase all barriers between himself and his work - his experience painting it becomes what we see in the work. Of course, there's more to his notoriety in terms of doing something groundbreaking in the history of art, but I think the art should be more than just something "never done before." I think what matters is how I feel when I look at it, and any art class I've taken has always shied away from teaching that. I understand that you can't tell me what to feel, but it helps to be guided through the process by which we can discover what we feel, other than a simple - "Huh?"

When the process of looking at art starts to become an exploration of an experience, taking an idea and playing with it, being delighted by it, surprised, amused, entertained, or curious, it begins to resonate for me. As with the pottery exhibit in the picture above, I looked at it and just saw pottery - my Dad had an experience. Just as I started to have an experience as I explored an exhibit downtown that was comprised of glass, mirrors, and reflections - it's as if you start rediscovering and looking at the world as a child - everything is new and different. And when I go back to the MOCA I will be sure to take a tour of a new exhibit to gain some more perspective on the whole thing.

Taiwan Day #2

With all the excitement at a temporary standstill over prop 8 and Butch Jamie's DVD release, I thought I'd pick up where I left off on my trip to Taipei last month. I've only gotten through the first day, and I have four more to go! If you need to catch up, you can read Day 1 part 1 here and Day 1 part 2 here.


Whereas my first day in Taiwan I took the most photos, my second day I took the least. But I still had a very productive day.

I started the morning off at the National Palace Museum, which is on the outskirts of the city.



Below you can see some of the surrounding greenery.



We weren't allowed to take photos inside, so that's it for the museum. The inside was nice, but I'm not a huge fan of museums in general (even though I really do try to go and be cultural) so I'm not a good one to ask. But if you're looking for a museum in Taipei, this one is supposedly the best.

After that, my guide and I went for dim sum, which I was introduced to when I visited Hong Kong several years ago. I have since been only once, in Chinatown here in L.A. My guide told me that dim sum originated in Hong Kong, although it's very popular in Taiwan. The restaurant we went to is open 24 hours and is a popular place to go after clubbing. I didn't take any photos, but we ate lots of tasty little items. As you may know, the whole concept of dim sum revolves around eating several dishes of small appetizer-type items, such as a plate with three dumplings, another plate with two small seafood tarts, etc.

Like in Korea, you don't tip in Taiwan, which is a really convenient custom except of course when you want someone to go out of their way for you. When my guide asked our cab driver to make a quick stop at a convenience store on the way to our destination, he refused. He did drop us off at the store, but didn't want to wait for us while we were inside. So I guess tipping does lead to some benefits after all.

That evening, I saw two films from fellow visiting filmmakers. The festival had organized a forum for us in a couple of days to talk about the production of our projects, and beforehand we made a point to see each other's films. Also that night, we went to a filmmaker's party that the festival had organized.

So that's it for Day 2. I took a lot more photos on Day 3, so I'll be back soon with more of my adventures.