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_____________________________________________ Mi MoMA! (write above). 001

Mi MoMA.01

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After a trip to the Museum of Modern Art on a sizzling day in July, I started to notice everyone was walking around taking pictures of art. Forced by security to carry my camera and out of spite I took photos of art, the interior of the museum and then became fascinated with all the other people taking photos. Images were then found thru flickr of museum goers that visited around the same time as my journey. The book was presented to the marketing dept of the MoMA, appreciated by some, and then I was asked to join their new flickr group in December. I joined.

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Mi MoMA! (write above).

001

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Mi MoMA!07.19.08New York, NY.____________

A ziney thing to inspire art.

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Mi MoMA!A quick trip thru the Museum of Modern Art. Turns into a four hour (inspirational) photo shoot & book. New Directions, surveyed new approaches to art in the 2oth Century, featuring Andy Warhol, Franz Kline, David Schriggley, and a few others._I didn’t want to bring my camera because I felt it would be annoying and intrusive to others. But…since I was forced to by security, I felt like it was my obligation to take photos of what I liked. It didn’t help that everyone else in the building would just walk around & in front of you take photos with there fµckin cellphönes! _ A little frustrated by the situation, I decided to take close ups of the pieces I liked (thus blocking someone else’s view) trying to capture the viewers in the reflection. Other times, I would just pan out and photograph the viewer standing directly in front of the artwork. At this point, the museum goer became more interesting than some of the work. _To stay in the MoMA for this long was a great way to spend a ninety-six degree day. The artwork will be altered & hopefully I will not get sued. Enjoy.

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The Lazor.SM_You’ll have to excuse my interviewing technique, I’ll be

honest I haven’t interviewed anyone since the third grade and

that was just my grandma. Hopefully this will go just as well

(when its done we will eat ice cream). _What you thinkin? I

think its ridiculous to take pictures of art, but a lot of people do

it and it becomes really interesting when you think about why?

Is it to own that artwork, capture or record the moment (I was

here kinda stuff), check out the process behind how it was made,

or catch people’s interaction with it? Mine was based on spite

but then I really enjoyed it. > What’s behind your photos? What are you trying to capture? ML_Different things, actually… Sometimes I simply want to

take the art home with me. I’ll do this usually if it’s a piece

that is sort of unknown or rare and I may never see it again

anywhere. And if I love it, I may really want to keep it around

for future inspiration. _Other times I am trying to bring home

a detail of a piece I like or an element that’s caught my eye. The

first time I saw some Picasso works I was weirdly enthralled by

his signature. It struck me as almost more personal than the

piece itself. I took photos of Picasso’s, Klee’s, Warhol’s, and oth-

ers back in those days while I actually still like to shoot (and

touch) Basquiat’s when I can. (On the pieces he took the time

to sign, that is)._Lastly, I’m often times cropping a section of

the piece with my shot. Sometimes it’s because I find a section

interesting (as mentioned above), but a lot of the time it’s be-

cause it’s fun. It’s almost like creating an entirely new piece of

art. It’s cheating I know, but sometimes it still looks cool. (This

sort of relates to your question below).

_ I was a little annoyed when other museum goers would walk

in front of me, stop and start taking photos of the work with their

cell phones. So annoyed I started shooting them instead of the

artwork. >What’s more important when you’re at a museum, seeing the work and really appreciating it or just taking a photo of your cousin standing in front of one piece and moving on to the next?

_ Appreciating it. Not sure if this really needs explanation.

*Not really I think I just wanted to vent a little more about the

whole process of being in museums, besides its fun when some-

one interesting stands in front of you and can snap away.

The first Mi MoMA! interview took place via internet to ensure that both parties would sound as smart as humanly possible. Interviewed by Scott Massey. 12.04.08

001 Interview with Matt Lindauer:

_When I’m at a museum, I seem to get all these ideas running

through my head (I need to do this, I need to work more on my

own stuff or damn I did that same thing and it just sits under my

bed). By the time I get home, it seems like those ideas or motiva-

tion are gone. >By taking photos of art that inspire you, can you prolonging these ideas?

_ I guess that could be so. I know that I used to go to LACMA

and sit in the permanent modern art rooms and draw some of

the pieces I really liked. I’d copy elements from Miro or Klee

and bring them home with me where they’d usually turn up

in pieces of mine. Sometimes they’d be transformed and muti-

lated and sometimes they’d stay remarkably close to their origi-

nal form. _But I definitely get that same feeling of inspiration

mixed with urgency mixed with need. It’s exhausting being at a

great gallery or museum, and staying too long never works out

well. Better to hit them up in short bursts. Even the big places.

Get a membership and just go more often.

_What do you think about people that sit in museums for hours

just sketching, writing, and collecting their thoughts. I was a hat-

er before my last experience, now I’d recommend it to anyone in

the creative field. >If you could temporarily move Rent Control to the MoMA, what section would you move it to and why? (www.rentcontrolinc.com)

_Well, I guess by my last answer you can see that I think going

and drawing at a museum can be great. It’s not a coffee shop so

I wouldn’t go and read or try to work, but sometimes you see

things that you just need to draw or write about right then and

there. _If I had to pick a spot at MoMA it probably be an area

where there’s Picassos and Miros and other art where there are

lines and shapes and elements that can float out of the pieces

and into different ideas and settings in my world. Picasso’s bold

lines. Miro’s biological shapes. Paul Klee’s “bugs” as I like to call

them. I like seeing things in Basquiats paintings that are almost

code, but that I feel I understand on a deeper level. Like I’ve no-

ticed the same thing[s] as he did, or been hurt in the same way

or felt the same feelings. And sometimes you just need to get

that down on paper right then and there. _One note, I would

recommend doing this, if possible, during the least busy time

of the day and week, and maybe even the least crowded area

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Cnt’d.of the museum. It’s more meditative to immerse into art and try

to feel the details in a piece when you’re not surrounded by a

never-ending parade of tourists or, even worse, tours. _Couldn’t

agree with you more, when I finally reach Pollock’s painting I

really just wanted to sit their and look at every drip, smear and

splash of paint. Unfortunately, there was a tour parked there for

longer than I was willing to wait. More time during my next trip

will be spent sitting on the floor with a sketchbook.

(Last section)I’ve been doing research thru flikr, http://flickr.com/groups/

moma/pool/ there’s a lot of images taken at the MoMA and

daily people are uploading new files. Its interesting to see how

the same pieces are interpreted by people, different angles, some

cropping the work and others panning out. A lot of them claim

not to be artists, but they seem to be taking artistic license in the

way that the art is captured.>Is a photograph of a piece of artwork considered a work of art or is it simply a reproduction? Should we be sued for reproduc-ing these images with the intent to sell?

_ This was an area I dealt with while in art history class in col-

lege in Arizona. The class as a whole was getting very extreme

in their opinions and worked themselves into a mob mentality

about the reproduction of art. They were militant in their views

that there shouldn’t be ANY reproduction of art. That the origi-

nal should be all that there is. Period. I pointed out that, while

Mona Lisa pillow cases and Monet playing cards are saddening,

capitalistic outlets, without reproductions we’d never be able

to see most of the art the world has to offer. How many people

would be able to see the Pieta in Rome, the Mona Lisa in Paris,

or Guernica in Spain? _Or better yet, to be able to see all of

them? _I don’t think that a simple photo of any of the above

pieces, or any others for that matter, is necessarily art, however

I would never say that it couldn’t be. I’m sure someone could

do something meaningful with a photo of someone else’s work,

famous or unknown, and we’d be moved and even inspired by

it. I’m sure someone could, has and will. _ I found a couple that

were pretty amazing, one that sticks out in particular was posted

by arvindk and named Dali I See You.

_In our day and age, everyone gets a point of view (last week I

watched a twelve year old on youtube teach how to make a sail-

boat out of folded paper, I had to watch it 3 times before success-

fully making a recognizable dingy). Not exactly a point of view

but he’s out there for everyone to see. It seems like everyone has

the desire to become famous or to be heard.

>How & who should determine where it stops?

_I think culture/society will determine that on its own. People

hated Duchamp and still hate Koons. People thought Lich-

tenstein drew cartoons, Pollack spilled paint, and Twombly

scribbled. No single person or government or critic or or-

ganization can, or should, ever claim to know what’s right or

good or enough. People will always want to feel special and

be special and more often than not, they wont be. But we

need to leave it to Time to sort that all out. Time is usually right.

>Is this whole thing (digital community) one big slice out of DADA pranks? What would Warhol do? Isn’t a digital interview so much better than face to face.

_Yeah, it’s great. Anything is art now. Everyone is an artist. You

don’t need to fight for gallery space anymore. You can post

paintings or interactive media or video or music or whatever

for the whole world to see now. And you get your reviews from

thousands of critics rather than a privledged few. It’s truly an

amazing time to be an artist or to just love art. _And yes, digital

interviews are better than recorded ones. The reason? Com-

mand-Z._Later!_Matt.

_Yes erase, erase, erase, but for some reason I’m not going to

edit or backtrack this thing at all. Thanks, Matt for all your great

insight. See you soon on facebook or in the water. Take care of

the kiddies. Scott. I lied, bactracked a little.

(feel free to answer, comment on or ignore any questions) tanks. Scott

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After sometime, I started to wonder if other museum goers felt the same way about the MoMA’s camera policy as I did.With a few clicks & keyword searches on (MoMA pool) I found a hand full of people that went snap crazy inside the museum, why? Were they pissed off about carry all that gear or is there something else. Checking their blogs & profiles, most of them don’t consider themselves to be artists. But…felt the need to share with the world images of artwork & the environment in the museum._It seemed important to collect all the images on flickr that were taken during my visit to the museum. Would the rest of the crew be interested in the pieces I was, how would they shoot them? would they point their lenses at other museum goers* _ The search (only one night) provided a number of impressive images & list of people that I’d like to contact about this project. _Taking drawings, photos, and scribbles from friends & strangers in order to get a collective representation of the MoMA. Seeing it from the viewers eyes, in a physical format easy to hold & appreciate. The three previous spreads are composed of images taken from Flickr, the next issue would be

made up mostly of other peoples work, credits would found at the back of book or insert.

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*Did anyone take photos of the pieces I wanted but was too lazy to pick up, did shoot me standing there

in front of Warhol’s Elvis? Is it too late to get that girl’s phone number (these are dumb ?’s).

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To Make perfectly clear, I would never try to rip off the artists, the MoMA or any of the museum goers by making this ziny thing. If by any chance the MoMA or individuals feel this way, I’ll respectfully burn the copies in my possesion (I won’t be able to burn the ones already handed out). I hope this will just be seen as an act of admiration and nothing more. _ If you would like to contribute to the next one, feel free to take a day out of your schedule and head on over to the MoMA. Bring a sketch book, pens, pencil, camera, whatever you need to record your visit. Sit around for a while, watch people, talk to them, look at art, & photograph them both. _ My goal is to put them in a series of zines, so submit your photos, doodles, sketches, written word to [email protected]. All works would be creditted to the photographer / artist (a discussion of copyright infringement & ownership will be in the series as well). Thanks, look forward to collaborating._08. scott massey

_08. www.nohawk.com

_08. ___ | 3o

Flickr Artists: 010.labs, anna zapapatillas, arvindk, barbara.irschick, els.peeters, ephemeralemerald, fenneluno, gael007, jenadactyl, johny.baker, kv.project, little.honda, matt.verzola, morv440, photos11201, scorpio76-ina.ny, thetourist, thingylab, vanouxe, wallyg. >Additional Photos: matt.lindauer & scott.massey. 2008>Design, layout, & concept: scott massey

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