For my first SAMO experience of the year I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art on October 26th, 2018. It was a chilly fall day when me, my Mom and my sister Maeve, drove down to the city to visit the museum. Tickets to get in were free for me and Maeve because we are students under 18 while my mom’s ticket to get in was $15. There were a lot more people in the museum than I had anticipated but it wasn’t crowded. Most of the people I saw at the museum looked like artists themselves and were very immersed in the artworks, I couldn’t really relate to that. Walking around the museum I noticed some art pieces that I didn’t understand at all. I thought that was an interesting aspect of the museum because even though I saw something and didn’t understand it’s relevance, the same art piece could be extremely relevant to another person.
In “Willing to be Disturbed” by Margaret Wheatley she says “To be curious about how someone else interprets things, we have to be willing to admit we are not capable of figuring things out alone.” Walking through the museum I found myself not really understanding what some of the art was trying to portray. I found reading the artists descriptions of the art and the meaning can really make the art come alive. If you were to go the museum I would recommend always reading the artists descriptions because it gives insight into who the artist is and the background of the painting. The description can also help you in figuring out the context of the painting and whether you see the same things or not. One artist that was featured at the museum when I went was Enrico David. When I first looked at his sculptures I didn’t understand them because I didn’t see anything in them I recognized. It was challenging for me to look at the sculpture and have completely no idea what it was supposed to be or the message behind it. After reading the description of the artworks I realized that I was looking at the sculptures expecting to see a cohesive outline begin to form. Instead I took a step back to look at the art all together and started to recognize things like a hand and a face. I interpreted the sculptures to be a message about how things and people are not always what they seem to be and there is always more than meets the eye.
I don’t think I am exceptionally skilled in interpreting art because I do not visit museums that often and have little practice needing to do so. I think it’s important to be able to interpret art yourself even if you see something different than the artist intended. After visiting The Museum of Contemporary Art I will definitely plan on visiting more museums like this one that challenges you to think outside of the box and makes you self reflect.
To Recap it all….
What: Museum of Contemporary Art
Where: 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL
How did you get there: Drove with my Mom and Sister
How much did it cost? $15
Would you recommend it to other CST learners? Yes! It challenges you to think deeper than just accepting what’s on the surface.
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