it's been a while, but here we go again!
last evening was truly stellar. jane and i finished up working mid afternoon, jumped into the mini, and headed into the city: desitination MoMA (museum of modern art). We parked directly in front and were pleasantly surprised to find that target was sponsoring 'free friday night at MoMA' ... so we snaked through the line and made our way into the cool recesses of the museum.
yes, it was hot out ... but does everyone need to be wearing shorts? And why is everyone in 'I HEART (symbol) NY' t-shirts? there are some (read: MANY) people who should NOT be bearing all! i even saw an older gentleman sporting a t-shirt which read 'kung fu Championship of florida' written on it - and not in a funny, ironic way (with a rather unfortunate phallic-looking state map)! grunge seems to be here to stay, and I'm reminded of what someone in rwanda told me - that they think that westerners are dirty! yep, the african natives find our society sullied (probably on a number of levels). so wash up america, and PLEASE put some pants on!
the museum had a real buzz - people milling about, lots of spaniards, japanese, and even a few native new yorkers. the spanish are very cute ... the parents all seem to be 'friends' with their teenage children ... somehow very readable. jane and i made our way out to the sculpture garden to view the richard serra sculptures - giant tilted and torqued expanses of raw steel. we've seen many of these giant architectural pieces at gagosian gallery and the dia beacon; however, seeing them in this setting, outside in the courtyard, was truly spectacular. the changing evening light on the mottled metal surfaces - very rich, tactile, and sensuous. forget video installations - the boldness, scale, and simplicity (and inherent complexity) of this work is amazing. just being in the 'spaces' created by the giant planes is inspiring, and looking up and out between the voids to see iconic new york skyscrapers or manicured trees framed by the clean lines is great. a few lucky diners were eating their $20 appetizers inside the Modern restaurant, looking out and watching their short-clad contemporaries (question: which species was on view for the other?).
while standing in the courtyard, we looked up to see the fifth floor café, which overlooks this outdoor space, had a couple of empty tables on the balcony - kitted out with our very own white kitchen chairs. never ones to resist the opportunity for a glass of wine at dusk, we immediately went up to the café (typical wait time 45 minutes) and snagged said seats overlooking the sculpture garden and the serras. fantastic! wine, cheese, and roasted almonds immediately appeared (with an unfortunate dollop of apricot coulis which was not unlike gerbers). service by young steve buschemi type waiter ensued, not overly solicitous but very knowledgeable. looked out across the vast expanse to the glass walled other side of the museum, only to find bright colored fatboy next beanbag chairs dotting the administrative offices and chuckled (we just ordered some for the house). a truly special moment which left me feeling quite mellow and relaxed ... jane and i discussed art, the kids, time, memory ... in other words, not the usual stuff that can bog you down (although we did contemplate whether or not we should pop up to quebec this coming weekend to see marlee in hairspray at camp - she has a nice role in the play - another weekend away though, starting to take it's toll on us!). we passed on the very yummy looking chocolate tortes which passed us by - sadly! visit MoMAfriday night and have a seat on the fifth-floor terrace at the café - please!
after grazing, we went back to see the rest of the exhibit ... sixth floor more about the process, not so great, and down to the second floor for the rest of the serra sculptures. but first we were treated to a visual manifesto climbing up 3 stories on a wall - cartoon like huge drawings by dan perjovschi - absolutely hysterical and 'right on'. very clever in the simple way the messages of societal contradictions and hypocrisies are on view - loved it! back to richard serra, the giant sculptures in the terrazzo floored second level space ... great, huge, amazing - but somehow after seeing the initial ones in the sculpture garden, this space just didn't do it for me. the work is fantastic, but these pieces don't seem as astonishing when viewed inside, atleast in this venue. for some reason, at dia beacon they take on a more esoteric and rich quality, and it seemed a bit rote here. but muy fantastico nonetheless. back out in the garden, jane and i sprawled out on the steps, taking in the myriad of different languages being spoken, the people, the 8pm sun reflecting off of the planes flying overhead. she reminded me that when i first moved to new york, i thought how nice it would be for me to rent a round-bayed apartment overlooking the sculpture garden at MoMA - so refreshing to be so naive!
just as i was thinking that there was no overhead announcement that the museum would be closing, a guard came out and in a very definitive tone announced that in fact, the museum would be closing. as people slowly started to mill about and out of the garden, the guards (now there were a few of them) became increasingly belligerent - 'now you MUST leave", etc.. okay, we got it.
jane and i were too inspired to go to H&M (a natural choice after the museum, no?) so we headed downtown - past a mind-numbing movie set on the lower east side, parked in front of 'inoteca, and decided we'd try noodles at the much heralded kampuchea on rivington. hmmm, good luck - communal tables, many empty, can't seat us just yet, and a menu that required both of us to strain our eyes, even with jane's new reading glasses. but the food looked great (no lemongrass perfume in the air - why not?) ... unfortunately, any place we were standing seemed to be the wrong spot ... 'can you move over here please' - or 'i'm going to have to ask you to stand over there' ... so after 15 minutes of waiting (a record for me!) we packed it in and headed to lovely day in nolita - and lovely it was! A very satisfying asian meal, great service, a table right away, everything fresh - heavenly! We even made nice with the couple next door to us: him, talkative 20-something living in astoria: her, japanese cutie pie feigning not to comprehend english. we traded stories on traveling in nippon, which was fun (kamakura, eating deer crackers in nara, gardens of kyoto).
feeling like we'd had a great evening out, we headed home via a circuitous and seemingly life threatening route in queens, in order to avoid the ubiquitous LIE traffic - ugghhhh!
new york is superb!
off to red hook for a gourmet dinner at lea and vic's upstate home - many courses, lots of wine, swimming, and an sleepover at the courtyard by marriott in kingston. We're hoping to visit the frank gehry designed building at bard college tomorrow - take some pics for andi, who is this architect's biggest fan - and email them to him at camp. no eating from now until dinner though, thinking about those bathing suit clad days coming up on the beaches of herzliya!
recommendation: the movie PARIS JE T'AIME - a series of 18 shorts all filmed in the french capital - charming and endearing. almost caught it at the pagoda in the 7th arrondisement a few weeks ago - why would I sit in a theater in paris for two hours whilst experiencing the city first hand (although the pagoda is great - a funky alternative to MK2). But we did catch it here at the quad, and it's sublime!
harley
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