Another Night at the Modern (9/26/7)

Posted by Ashlie S., Sarah W., Amanda L., Jasmine H.
Unposted by Cody D., Sloane F., Katie K., Amanda H.



On Wednesday night, September 26, a small group of students in the Language Arts Lab travelled to the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth to see the Ron Mueck exhibit, followed by a movie and a lecture, that were part of a Film Noir event going on for a few months. [See Resource Blog "Learning Opportunity Announcement"]

The night's theme seemed to mirror a central theme we've been focusing on in class: choices. Looking at and examining Mueck's intricate, mind-blowing sculpture along with watching a detailed documentary about his methods brought to life all the steps that an artist takes to create such elaborate art. Mueck sketches and makes models of different poses - looking for the choice that best expresses the effect that he wants to have. Lots of hard and tedious work later, along with many important decisions in regards to how each detail will affect the viewer, we've got a sculpture.

A beautiful favorite piece in the exhibition was "Spooning Couple." With amazingly realistic qualitites, two people about a foot or two long, lie in bed next to each other - the the looks on
their faces tell you that they may as well be a great distance apart. Mueck made the choice to place them so that, and it's hard to notice this, the bodies aren't actually touching, in order to help portray that distance between them.

As Sarah W. reported, "The Ron Mueck exhibit, our first stop during the trip, was absolutely my favorite part. The exhibit features extraordinary lifelike sculptures made with exquisite craftsmanship by artist, Ron Mueck, the genius behind these incredible works of art. The first sculpture I saw was of Ron Mueck himself. It was just of his face and was at least 4 feet long. This is when I first began to distinguish the extreme details that make his work so profound. I could see the follicles of hair buried within his scalp. Each hair had its own place, and I could see the root from which the hair originated. I even recognized the distinct beard stubbles on his chin and slight imperfections that fall upon ordinary faces, such as wrinkles and red, tired eye lids. I was utterly amazed.

Next, I saw in the corner of the room, a naked, creepy man leaning up against the wall… another one of Mueck’s unique pieces, of course. He differed from the first piece I had seen. He had no hair on his body whatsoever, and was huge in size. However, there were still a vast amount of details in this complex piece. He had age spots atop his head and a very yellow, wrinkly body. His toenails were so perfectly defined, even bent and crooked. He looked up with his beady, daunting eyes, and I felt like he was about to stand up and walk away at any moment. It was so surreal.

In the middle of the exhibit lay a new born baby. She, of course, was not a real baby, but looked remarkably like one! She was still attached to her purple umbilical cord and had amniotic sac blood all over her body. Her eyes were peeled open slightly, as if gazing into her new world for the first time. The bizarre part about the piece is how incredibly huge she was (about as long as the room.) It seemed that all of Mueck’s pieces had this kind of peculiar trait. They were either enormous or very tiny in size. Either way, they were never the "normal" size, and that is what makes them stand out. I personally thought the newborn baby piece was rather gross, however, I also thought it was brilliantly captured and liked it for its artistic concept. Amanda H. thought it was gross too, but after getting past that, found things she liked about it.



What I liked most about the exhibit was that everyone in our group had opinions. Some concentrated on the expressions and creativity of the sculptures. Others were more technically focused on the detail oriented elements of the sculptures. Throughout the exhibit, I was always wondering how Mueck could have possibly achieved such levels of perfection and ingenuity. At the end of the exhibit, my questions were answered when we watched a documentary type video on how he made one of the sculptures. His techniques took long hours and many weeks to complete. I marveled at his techniques and the many steps it took him to complete such a compelling task. One little thing, such as painting on the glimmer of a toenail, took precise expertise and quite a bit of time.

The only thing I was disappointed about was that there were not more pieces displayed. I would love to see more of his pieces someday. Nevertheless, I would encourage everyone to attend the next trip and experience the awesomeness of his creations. I really enjoyed it, and I thank Mr. B for taking us to such a cool exhibit."

A break from the museum brought us to Kincaid's Grocery & Market, a small, informal restaurant boasting several awards for its amazing burgers. You really can't beat fantastic art followed by fantastic food. Unless maybe I found like $12,000 in my coat pocket afterwards. Or something. =]

Amanda L. described the Kincaid's experience this way:
"An old Texas diner, with a new new twist, on its tables red and white checkered tablecloths. [Ed: Did you go to a different Kincaid's from me? It's no diner; there are no tablecloths that I recall. Certainly not where I sat. And since when are red and white checkered tablecloths a new twist for an old diner? It's an old grocery store, still has the shelves where groceries were once displayed. The back counter where you order is still like the meat market counter it used to be.] Bottles of different kinds of hot sauce surrounding napkin holders. Randomly placed [Ed. At the Kincaid's where I ate the placement seemed very orderly to me.] with those there were some upside-down-rightside-up "Heinz Ketchup" bottles and salt/pepper shakers. Eating our foos Jasmine and I rejoiced in the glory of the best burgers we've had in a while [Ed. and the walls were covered with testimonials and awards celebrating the Best Burgers Anywhere Ever.] We took a picture outside the front window before we left. [Ed. And if someone (i.e. Katie) will get me a copy I will post it here.]


Anyway, we headed back to the museum to watch and discuss "Out of the Past", a black and white suspense film from 1947. This twisted, classic film noir movie displayed another set of deliberate and important decisions, including film location, lighting, and camera angles that intentionally make the viewer uncomfortable. Numerous vertical lines splinter the screen, along with the mind. All of these factors (and then some) contribute to the "feel" of the movie, the effect it has. It was interesting to go so deeply behind the final product of the movie itself, to pay attention to details and try to absorb everything that the film had to offer and to recognize that there were choices made by filmmakers who do everything for a reason.

The whole experience was very insightful. Seeing on a larger scale the same ideas we've been toying around with in class with descriptions of cardboard boxes, for example, was fun, and we got to learn outside of a classroom, which is always a positive thing.

(And, if an art museum can be so great, imagine what a place like Santa Fe has to offer, Mr. Benton :) :) nudge, nudge...)

Signing off (and longing for Kincaid's banana pudding),

Ashley S.