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rebeccmeisterYesterday afternoon I decided to go to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) to poke around--adverts on NPR had indicated that there's an exhibition on [outer] space, which sounded compelling because I thought it might provide some perspective (ha). I put my new bus-navigating skills to use and enjoyed a nice ride up to downtown Scottsdale. Bus-riding is a whole new way to get to know this area, I'm realizing. This place is secretive because everything is so spread out and buried in strip malls--you have to have some idea of what you're looking for if you want to have any hope of ever finding it.
Anyway, visiting SMoCA is always a gamble. The museum is small enough that it only hosts 2-3 shows at once, and usually at least one is disappointing. In this case, I was least impressed by the space exhibit--it turned out to be less abstract and more historically and human-focused than I expected (think Sputniks and space-races, men on the moon). Some of the art was gorgeously executed, yet it seemed somehow hollow or just boring or overexplained. The most compelling piece was a Russian astronaut wax figurine suspended in midair with a long tube like an umbilical cord spiraling out behind him. I liked the play on fragility and birth.
But that's not really what I want to focus on. Instead, I'd rather highlight a smashingly successful piece in another exhibit called "southwestNET: drawing outside the lines." It was by Steven Yazzie, a Dine (Navajo) artist who has received national and international attention. The piece was called "Velocity is Reflection" and was basically an installation piece. Basically. You see, Yazzie created a customized Go-Kart complete with a camera mount aimed towards a stand holding a pad of drawing paper. He took this vehicle to the top of hills in various locations throughout Arizona and then set it in motion and proceeded to draw landscapes during the descent. The installation showed a series of videos of these drawings, accompanied by audio that could be heard if one donned a motorcycle helmet. The descents on paved roads were fairly smooth, but the ones on dirt roads were much more fun. It was especially cool to watch his drawings during descents through South Mountain along roads where I ride my bicycle. Talk about a bizarre, awesome way to interact with the landscape. It made me really happy to see such high-quality work by local artists.
Anyway, visiting SMoCA is always a gamble. The museum is small enough that it only hosts 2-3 shows at once, and usually at least one is disappointing. In this case, I was least impressed by the space exhibit--it turned out to be less abstract and more historically and human-focused than I expected (think Sputniks and space-races, men on the moon). Some of the art was gorgeously executed, yet it seemed somehow hollow or just boring or overexplained. The most compelling piece was a Russian astronaut wax figurine suspended in midair with a long tube like an umbilical cord spiraling out behind him. I liked the play on fragility and birth.
But that's not really what I want to focus on. Instead, I'd rather highlight a smashingly successful piece in another exhibit called "southwestNET: drawing outside the lines." It was by Steven Yazzie, a Dine (Navajo) artist who has received national and international attention. The piece was called "Velocity is Reflection" and was basically an installation piece. Basically. You see, Yazzie created a customized Go-Kart complete with a camera mount aimed towards a stand holding a pad of drawing paper. He took this vehicle to the top of hills in various locations throughout Arizona and then set it in motion and proceeded to draw landscapes during the descent. The installation showed a series of videos of these drawings, accompanied by audio that could be heard if one donned a motorcycle helmet. The descents on paved roads were fairly smooth, but the ones on dirt roads were much more fun. It was especially cool to watch his drawings during descents through South Mountain along roads where I ride my bicycle. Talk about a bizarre, awesome way to interact with the landscape. It made me really happy to see such high-quality work by local artists.
