Institute of Contemporary Art (no. 32)

Last weekend, my parents flew up from Virginia to visit us. On Sunday afternoon, we went to Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art and spent just over an hour walking through the exhibits and then another hour and a half catching the Oscar-nominated animated shorts.

Although the exhibits met with a range of reactions — from don’t get it (parents) to why did you bring me here (Mark) to this is so fun! (me), the entire outing was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.  The main visiting exhibit was Roni Horn aka Roni Horn, which was impressive to me as the artist used so many different mediums to examine the meaning of identity and perception.  At first glance, a room that displayed multiple photographs of the water of the Thames River was redundant but each photograph was adorned with small footnotes that provided discrete and interesting comments on water.  Very intricate! I also was moved by Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko’s projection-based work…OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project, inw hich the routine sounds of life are interrupted by the noise of destruction and chaos as Wodiczko’s narrative unfolds across three walls of the gallery. It was really powerful.

As a whole, the Oscar shorts were varied and delightful.  I particularly was taken with the Spanish and Irish offerings, La Dama y La Muerte, and Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, respectively.

The Oscar winner, Logorama, was inventive but didn’t overwhelm any of us.

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