The new (to me) de Young, and SF MOMA
My mom and I went to the new De Young and was duly amazed, but I have these comments, good and bad.
– I saw it at maximum capacity. It was the first day of this crazy floral bouquet show, and every square inch was crowded with floral arranging enthusiasts. Did you know that FAE (floral arranging enthusiasts) touch the flowers? Overheard:
“This type of thing is easy.” Man pointing to some greenery on a large arrangement. Needless to say, the museum didn’t do too well so crowded.
– the map they give you is the worst thing in the world. It told us the elevator to the tower was on the lower floor. It’s not! It took us a good twenty minutes to get oriented, because the map has an angled perspective, with blown up depictions of stairways, and no signs for the exhibits.
– the layout, though arty, is very confusing: rooms that aren’t squares but large areas with branching doors that aren’t labelled. Long hallways that go askew, and open into more large lobbies with doors branching off them. Armed with a bad map, you’ll end up going up and down stairs about three times, like we did.
– The outdoor landscaping around the sculpture garden was very cool, but I missed the plants. Where are the plants?
– the cafe was unable to handle the capacity. Announcement from the line handler: “There are three lines outside and three kiosks. You can wait here for 25 minutes, then it takes 15 minutes to get your food.” It took us about a half an hour, so it was a slight exaggeration.
– the cafe food was marvelous, if covered in cheese
OK I was actually there to see the exhibits. I went to MOMA the day before, saw Calder, which is always great for a laugh, and getting that smiley light-hearted feeling. The next day we went to the de Young and saw the Arts & Crafts exhibit. It’s actually kind of overwhelming. I enjoyed the way they organized the displays by region. I am a big fan of Arts and Crafts- I saw the Gamble house (from Procter & Gamble) in Pasadena and loved the “sleeping decks” that they built for their 2 sons.
We also saw the earthquake photos at the SF Moma. Did I have any deep insights? In the earthquake show it was fun to figure out the perspective in the photos. The devastation is pretty awesome. It was interesting seeing our SF/Victorian descruction in comparison to the photos of Katrina. In the interpretations, they noted that in the SF earthquake, there’s a level of teamwork and good-spiritedness. I find that missing from photos of Katrina, not that it’s their fault. I squarely blame Bush. I guess the difference between a disaster happening in 1906 vs. 2006: in 2006 you know exactly what the world thinks almost instantaneously, whereas in SF we had some time to pool our resrouces and act without knowing what anyone else thought.
OK this is odd: there are 2 earthquake photograph shows going on, 1 at the MOMA, and one at the Legion of Honor.
LoH: After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
Moma: 1906 Earthquake: A Disaster in Pictures
weird.
locks
Recently a really, really hot locksmith came and replaced my lock for 400$. OK, I’m an easy sale when a 6’4, lisping muscle-bound, cool guy is standing in my hallway. My friend replaced hers for 40$, but then admitted her brother did the installation. The joys of Home Depot!