Back from the MADRE Contemporary Art Museum
February 7th 2008 17:37
Category: No Category
The internet connection in our hotel is finally working again, so Iām typing along to a Nelly Furtado soundtrack and the sounds of customers being tended to briskly and (in)efficiently, Italian style... one of the staff, Emanuela, doesnāt seem to have any time for impatience or annoyance in her life. Sheās incessantly pleasant and reminds me of the type of person I try to be. After all, what is the point of dabbing your soul into negative emotions? They only harm you, and achieve nothing. Meanwhile, smiling and laughing is contagious, and helps smooth over any inconveniences.
I didnāt have time to write down the dream I had last night, so I left the hotel feeling a bit grumpy. Iāve been good at documenting my dreams over the last few weeks, though not so good at analysing them in detail. I usually wait until I re-read my work to do that.
Our first stop for the day was the Archeological Museum of Naples, which was fascinating, and took us about five hours to explore. My favourite parts were the Fornese sculptures and gemstones, and the mosaics. There was also an interesting Egyptian collection which we saw just in time as it closed at 12.30. I thought this was a bit odd. There was a model of Pompei(i) which took up an entire room, which helped give me some perspective of its scope.
Our next stop was the MADRE Contemporary Art Museum, which featured a few Andy Warhols (including a sole blown-up pop art-style picture of Elizabeth Taylor), a room full of frameless cavasses and canvassless frames, and some photographs of spectators of famous art galleries, caught in their expressions of wonder, puzzlement, distraction or disinterest. Itās quite postmodern, as youāre viewing people viewing works or art- it draws attention to your position of spectator. Some of the pieces were crude and juvenile to my taste, but thatās the price you pay for foraying into the world of modern art - there are invariably people who enjoy focusing on things morbid and necessarily displeasing to the eye. I donāt think art has to be negative to make an impact.
I enjoyed the photography exhibition by the German artist Struth (he was responsible for the spectators), with his shots of Shanghai, Lima, Napoli and other places all over the world. He asked families to pose for him in their homes, which recalls portraits of nobilities in olden times. It was interesting to see how each family chose to represent itself. The had people sitting on their couches in Italy and tatami mats in Yamaguchi, Japan.
We were pretty beat after five and a half hours of sight-seeing, but mum insisted that we see the inside of the Duomo, so off we went. It was very elaborate, reminding me of San Pietro in some places. I wonder why the lighting is always so low in religious dwellings...
Itās 6.36pm now, and weāll be going out to dinner soon. Hope itās fabulous as usual!
Cya later,
Epiphanie
I didnāt have time to write down the dream I had last night, so I left the hotel feeling a bit grumpy. Iāve been good at documenting my dreams over the last few weeks, though not so good at analysing them in detail. I usually wait until I re-read my work to do that.
Our next stop was the MADRE Contemporary Art Museum, which featured a few Andy Warhols (including a sole blown-up pop art-style picture of Elizabeth Taylor), a room full of frameless cavasses and canvassless frames, and some photographs of spectators of famous art galleries, caught in their expressions of wonder, puzzlement, distraction or disinterest. Itās quite postmodern, as youāre viewing people viewing works or art- it draws attention to your position of spectator. Some of the pieces were crude and juvenile to my taste, but thatās the price you pay for foraying into the world of modern art - there are invariably people who enjoy focusing on things morbid and necessarily displeasing to the eye. I donāt think art has to be negative to make an impact.
We were pretty beat after five and a half hours of sight-seeing, but mum insisted that we see the inside of the Duomo, so off we went. It was very elaborate, reminding me of San Pietro in some places. I wonder why the lighting is always so low in religious dwellings...
Itās 6.36pm now, and weāll be going out to dinner soon. Hope itās fabulous as usual!
Cya later,
Epiphanie
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