Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

M and I left ol' Pink Eye back at the Valley Ho-ser and hit up the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (or SMoCA... it rolls, no?  No.) to check out the James Turrell piece, Knight Rise.  (Funny that James Turrell is totally trending these days anyway due to his current retrospective at the LACMA.  Hipsters be lovin' Turrell.)  We went at dusk, so we could peep the piece with the changing light.

Here:





and here:



It was pretty cool.  Nice and peaceful, forcing you to really NOTICE.  Or just to relax and wait.  And watch.



M and I really loved the light play as you walked to the Turrell piece.  Here are some shots of how the light reflects off the prismatic bits on the glass walls.


Of course with a cactus.



M, ever the photographer, had some fun photographing me through the filter-box that Julianne Swartz had set up.

Speaking of Ms. Swartz, who I was unfamiliar with before, damn does that lady do some good art.  Her art is interactive, working multiple senses at once.  Now I'm listening, now I'm opening, now I'm moving something, now something's moving around me.  Now that's stimulation!  There's an element of discovery to what she does, as well.  Because how often do we adults really discover anything (besides having diabetes or lack of xmas bonuses) anymore?  It feels good.  M and I stood there, listening or watching, and moving around to listen or watch in a different way.  

This, this.  This is my favorite kind of art.  Julianne Swartz is a genius.  She deserves much more renown, methinks.