“It is not so much where my motivation comes from but rather how it manages to survive.” – Louise Bourgeois
The trip to LA was great for a number of reasons, mostly because it was half fun-work and another half fun-vacation. It took me a while to post up the pics and such just because life has been crazy busy since getting back into town.
MOCA, The Getty Museum
The Museum of Modern Art (MOCA) and the Getty are worlds apart when it comes to their art, their feel, and their location. MOCA is downtown, not really around anything of note, but had this amazing Louise Bourgeois exhibit that had just opened the wee we were there. We got a guided personal tour by one of the curators which was great for an art-novice like myself. The back-story is what makes an artist like Louise Bourgeois interesting. She wasn’t “discovered” until late in her life, and even after her works gained popularity so much about them and there meaning was unknown. I find it fascinating that she really didn’t talk about her work until very recently (she’s 97 years old). So much of it was personal, related to her parent’s relationship and her own son’s, that she didn’t feel free to talk about it at the time she was creating it. I think my favorite piece was a “cell” that was a 10ft high cage protected/covered with a gigantic iron spider, her symbol for maternal protection. It was just so very graceful yet imposing. The Guggenheim has some pictures of some of her works online here.
The Getty was nice simply because it was outdoors with beautiful gardens and plenty of opportunity to roam. I wandered, lounged & read, had lunch, and took a look through their collection which was okay. They had an exhibit of nature/survey photographs by Carleton Watkins from the late 1800’s, early 1900’s that were pretty astounding. Reminded me a lot of Ansel Adam’s work, but with less polish.
Santa Monica, Hermosa & Manhattan
I got to go to the beach a couple times, once to Santa Monica and another to Hermosa/Manhattan Beach. At both I mostly just tooled up down the coast line taking in the sun and the sand between my toes. A hotdog on the beach. Watching the pretty people play volleyball and rollerblade. Not really all that exciting, but fun to do something different. Manhattan beach had to be my favorite, mostly because of how empty it was on the Monday that I was walking along it on my way to work at a coffeeshop down by the beach. That was the day I got convinced that living in a place with that much sunshine wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Cosplay
If you’ve never heard of cosplay, it’s short for “costume play”. Heiwad met up with me for a great lunch at Father’s Office, after which we went to Royal-T to meet up with his friends for drinks/dinner. The waitress staff (who are mostly Japanese) all dress up in French Maid outfits. That’s it. Kinda kitch. Kinda cute. Definitely fun.
The Standard
The hotel I stayed in for most of the trip needs at least an honorable mention: The Standard is tongue in cheek to the extreme. The room was nice, swank, and actually affordable. While pretentious, the roof-top bar was nice. And the “amenities” pictured above were… well… quaint.
The Rest
There are more pics in the usual place, including a ton from PDC, WinHEC, Universal Studios, Halloween… more stories (may) follow.
You went to a maid cafe?! O_o
i’m so glad you like lb’s work! i saw that show when it was at the guggenheim and loved it. her cells are so powerful. she is such an amazing woman and she’s feisty. there is a great documentary that came out a few months ago…it’s called “the spider, the mistress, and the tangerine.” my old MoMA boss is interviewed in it (she’s the one who discovered lb’s work back in the 80s). it’s great a great film.