10/4/08

museum visits

I'm not going to lie, I'm a pretty big fan of these museum trips we have been taking. Over the past winter my friends and I were horrified to realize how remarkably uncultured we had become. We fell, as I believe most 20-somethings do, into the bad habit of working way too much and not doing anything of value on our days (or for more than a few of us, 1 day) off. A friend told me that he had flown to Peru for a week for work on the company dollar, and still hadn't managed to see, or even eat, anything outside of the hotel or office building. It hit me like a sack of bricks, we were way too young to be this married to our jobs. Thus, cultural awareness day was born. Each weekend someone picked one event or place they really wanted to see. When I started school I was slightly worried about having time to get my weekly fix. Between work, class, and homework I was going to have my hands full, let alone adding in family, friends, and taking care of my pup. It's so easy to get wrapped up in our own little worlds and forget that there is more out there than we could ever hope to see or fully absorb. Simply getting to the museum and having basic human interaction is a large part of being culturally aware. Seeing what other artists are making and thinking about has opened my eyes to a world of art that I may never have tried to make before. For me, these visits and discussions get me really excited to make art individually and as a part of the collaborative.

2 comments:

Nikad said...

I completely agree with you on the value of these trips. There's nothing like living in the nation's cultural capital to make you forgetful of culture. It's like we're so surrounded by fantastic art-related things that we never feel the urgency to spectate/participate in any one. Shame on us.
Here's to getting cultureder again!

Jenna said...

I also agree! I have really enjoyed visiting the shows and hearing lectures/ having discussions with artists. It puts the artwork into context and helps to make the idea of collaborative art more real. It is great, and important, to study colab groups of the past like Dada, but being submerged in America's Grave and sitting in the Hirshorn watching a film is an experience, not just classroom studies. I found even just sitting in the Smithsonian Castle talking bout art to be inspiring. This class, and experiences like these, have helped me remember why I love DC and what a unique experience it is to be a student at the Corcoran.