 |
A visit to Mars—and Pittsburgh
By Elizabeth Licata
|
|
|
The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History; photo courtesy of CMOA.
|
This is not going to be the typical survey of all the attractions Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania have to offer. You probably know already about many of them, including Mount Washington and its inclines, the Warehouse District, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Science Center, Three Rivers Stadium, and—not in the city, but nearby—one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most spectacular creations, Fallingwater.
|
|
|
Barry McGee’s UNTITLED, (detail);
courtesy the artist; Deitch Projects, New York;
and Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London.
|
 |
|
Cao Fei’s My Future Is Not A Dream, 2006;
photo courtesy of the artist and
Lombard-Freid Projects, New York.
|
 |
|
David Shrigley’s I’m Dead, 2007;
photo courtesy of the artist and
the David Roberts Collection.
|
 |
|
Marisa Merz’s Untitled (Living Sculpture), 1966;
photo by Tom Little.
|
 |
|
Mike Kelley’s Kandors; photo by Tom Little.
|
 |
|
The Carnegie’s grand staircase;
photo courtesy of CMOA.
|
There are plenty of reasons to make Pittsburgh your long-weekend destination, but this article focuses on just one of them, a big one: the Carnegie Museum of Art’s 55th International. When Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Institute (as it was then known) in 1895, his intention from the beginning was to create a museum of modern and contemporary art, focusing on the “Old Masters of tomorrow,” as he termed them. The International was the way these works entered the Carnegie’s collection. It is unlike anything we’re likely to see in most American museums, and is really more akin to such huge contemporary surveys as the Sao Paulo or Venice Biennials (though on a smaller scale). None of Manhattan’s museums, for example, host such a wide-ranging show. This year, the extensive survey is called Life on Mars and is curated by Douglas Fogle.
Whatever else you may be planning, make sure to allot at least three hours to exploring the exhibition, which uses two levels of the museum as well as some outdoor installations. Build in time for lunch to avoid MFS (Museum Fatigue Syndrome). There are over forty artists, ranging from Georgian native Andro Wekua, a relative youngster at thirty-one, to eighty-nine-year-old Maria Lassnig, from Austria. Some of the better-known names include L.A.’s Mike Kelley, who has a large installation on the ground floor, and painter Vija Celmims, who has a wonderful series of night sky canvases on the second floor.
Why is the show called Life on Mars? To be honest, I’m still not really sure; exhibitions of this kind tend to need a catchy name. If I had a gun to my head, I would justify it this way: the artists in this show often make work that looks at humans in the context of what the future will bring and how the way we live our lives might appear to a hypothetical alien. One point made by the organizers—with which I agree—is that artists are aliens in a sense, living outside a traditional existence, investigating ideas beyond the mainstream. This is especially true in the case of Thomas Hirschorn’s extensive Cavemanman, a labyrinth made of plywood, cardboard, foil, and other materials, which the viewer has to enter. It’s kind of like a sci-fi version of the house at the end of Blair Witch Project and almost as scary—but almost as funny as well. The large tunnel Hirschorn has created is lined with drawings and scrawled words, and lit by jury-rigged contraptions that look as though they might short out at any minute. Like visitors to a post-apocalyptic land—and Hirschorn is not the only one to evoke this scenario, however vaguely—viewers to this show are often taken out of their comfort zone and forced to imagine a much stranger existence, or understand how strange existence already is.
Other works—like Ryan Gander’s film and scattered crystal balls; Barry McGee’s explosive hallway of colorful graffiti and startling moving objects; and Ranjani Shettar’s ethereal curtain of beeswax, pigments, and thread—provoke wonder and delight as much as they challenge. The International also has a large proportion of film and video in it; this may require the bulk of your time commitment, but there is a good variety of conceptual and documentary works. Cao Fei’s film of dancers in a Chinese lightbulb factory and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s brash and rhythmic video installation were among the most vibrant and enjoyable of the time-based works, but there were many other wonderful examples.
I wish I could see this show again—and intend to. If you’re planning on a visit, it can be done in one day, but that’s tiring. Try to stay a few days. Good resources for hotel, dining, and suggestions of other attractions can be found at visitpittsburgh.com and imaginepittsburgh.com. I have only two recommendations: the venerable and magnificent Omni William Penn hotel and—for innovative dining nearby—Nine on Nine.
Keep in mind: the International runs through January 11 and will not be held again until 2012.
Elizabeth Licata is editor of Buffalo Spree.
After Mars, visit Washington
If you’re looking for a more rustic experience, nearby Washington, PA is home to a number of attractions, including the LeMoyne House (PA’s first National Historic Landmark of the Underground Railroad), Meadowcroft Rock Shelter and Museum of Rural Life (the complex combines ancient history with nineteenth century charm), and the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (the facility offers guided tours and trolley rides). www.washwow.com.
— Hickory Apple Festival (October 4–5): Apples, apples and more apples.
— Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Christmas Festival (October 17–19, October 25–26): More than 200 artists and craftspeople gather to show off (and sell) their festively-themed wares. |
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Back to the Table of Contents
Back to Top
|
|
|
