Carneigie Museum Field Trip Blog #7

I have been to the Carnegie Museum of art many times in past years. This was the first time that I was on a guided tour. The guide made everything interesting, telling us about the artist, the background for the painting, and pointing out specific aspects of the art. We certainly covered a lot af ground and paintings in a hour.

Our first stop after we climbed the grand stairway was in Heinz Gallery A. We viewed an installation art, "Opera for a Small Room." The artists, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, purchased a collection of opera records from a second-hand store. They didn't know any thing about the former owner, R. Dennehy, so the made up a back story of his life. Using lights and music, the records and other knickknacks in a ramshackle room they portray the "opera of Dennehy's life. Shades of the Mattress Factory! I was reminded of my own installation for project #3.

One of the most interesting pieces of art was an African Kuba Mask. It was made of seashells, small beads, straw and raffia. On the top was a depiction of a trunk and tusks; arond the bottom of themask was a mane of straw and raffia. They represented the kings of beasts: the elephant and lion. This mask could only be worn by men of the royal family. What made this mask most interesting to me was that it was an inspiration for the picture in the next room by Picasso. This was an early work and not as outrageous as some of his later paintings. It is called "The Mask" and featured a head with blank eyes.

The painting I didn't like was the one we debated about in class. I couldn't find it on the website. On the day of the tour I didn't think it was noteworthy so I don't know the name of the painting or artist. It is an uninteresting bunch of splashes of paint without form, that does not create any kind of impression. Beauty and art are in the eyes of the beholder. I didn't behold anything.

At the end of the tour we were invited to enter and view "Forum 62" It was the art I was most impressed with and liked the best. There are twenty "sealke" creatures made of glass suspended from the ceiling by Italian artist Maria Graazia Rosin. We are told they express her multifaced interest in science, from biology to physics. They are beautiful.