Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

When is destruction gorgeous and true?  At the Marion County Fair Demolition Derby.  On a trip there earlier this month, I was awed by the performative aspects of the event.  You could say the derby was as spectacular as anything we’ve presented at the IMA, except perhaps the stunning 2008 Summer Solstice event featuring a Japanese Butoh dancer named Oguri who moved into the fountain on the Lilly House allee and emerged, steaming, in the rays of a powerful searchlight at the moment the sun dropped below the horizon.

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How hard should I fight the impulse to sit on this couch and watch the traffic go by on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, just south of the IMA?  Why am I charmed by a couch on a sidewalk?

This couch is the sadness of a party that’s over, or some desire that’s run its course.  It also highlights the contrast between the soft comfort of furniture, versus the mean streets and the unforgiving elements (i.e., torrential rains this week).  The couch’s presence here puts us in a strange netherland that’s half Martha Stewart, half feral.  There’s something innocent about it too.  Do you think the couch seems ready to face the big bad world, perhaps for the first time?

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One spring equinox a few years ago, a duo of artists called Theater of Inclusion designed and planted these trees on the IMA grounds, for one day only.

They didn’t design the accompanying clouds you see here, but what if they could have?

by Theater of Inclusion

Fellow IMA blogger Ed Bachta recently told me about a new film called Owning the Weather.  Premiering last week at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the film tells the story of weather modification science.  The film features “seeders,” scientists who inject clouds with substances that hasten condensation, thereby making rain.  The doc also gives voice to philosophers on both sides of the debate about whether weather interventions are a handy solution to the global warming blues…or a sacrilegious crossing of the line between human and god. Read the rest of this entry »

What would you like more from your museum?

a) label after label of well-behaved information; or

b) a blast of curiosity that renews your capacity for awe at the world’s wonders.

If you chose “b,” get thee to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. This humble but noble institution in Culver City, California is dedicated to “the incongruity born of the overzealous spirit in the face of unfathomable phenomena.”

Pictured below is one of the museum’s many specimens: a micromosaic made from the individual scales of butterfly wings, by one Henry Dalton (1829-1911).

At Museum of Jurassic Technology

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From all of us here at IMA blog head quarters, we wish you a safe and happy new year!

As a gift of sorts and to make our vows public, we’d also like to treat you to some of our resolutions. Enjoy!

Daniel resolves…To be nice. Eat Twizzlers. Play soccer. Be brilliant. To follow some advice from Ghandi: Be the change that you want to see in the world. And in the words of LL Cool J: Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years.

Charlie resolves…For this techie to learn the difference between modern and postmodern art.

Anne resolves…To bring more film artists to the IMA and to The Toby…Wim Wenders, anyone?

Gary resolves…To get the gambling monkey off my back.  I give it 20-1 odds.

Matt resolves…To ween myself off of fast food, join a gym, and to always remember to check things in Internet Explorer before sending out a link!

Amber resolves…To live in the now! No more worrying about the future and what it holds – just live day by day and enjoy it. Also, I need to drink less soda and take my vitamins. Baby steps…

Irvin resolves (with obligatory preface)…I’m a bad, bad horticulturist so first of all – take better care of the plants I’m overwintering. Sow more seed (but no wild oats). Photograph the gardens as they develop this year.

Phil resolves… To impress Anne Laker then together continue taking over greening the world.

And if you too want to make your resolution public, leave a comment!

Until the ‘09, peace.