MASS MoCA North Adams. MA photo by son of Sans; all other photos by sans Souci

Ralph Stanley signs autographs at a concert.

Part A – From last year’s post on North Adam’s MA, to give you a little background.

Saturday July 7, 2007

Our annual trek to the Berkshire Mountains.

North Adams, MA

We love it this area of Massachusetts; it is a juxtaposition of blue collar and culture.

North Adams was a mill town, like many other towns situated near canals. In the 1800’s factories sprung up near water which enabled transit of materials and goods.

In the 1980’s the Sprague Electric Works was shut down and deemed a contaminated site.The company was housed in a 19th century mill which stood idle until it was resurrected in 1999 as the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, or MASS MoCA.The economy of North Adams was failing and it was a hope that the museum would breathe life back into the town.

Situated across the canal was company housing.If you look closely at mill towns you will see a common architecture of ticky-tacky little attached houses, usually with porches, that provided housing to the factory workers and their families.

The Porches Inn
(We took the same room this year)

In July 2001, The Porches Inn opened; the old company row houses were renovated and brought up to 21st century standards with a sense of humor; low tech-meets high tech.

A long porch runs the length of the row; you can sit out there and rock on.Rooms are comfortable but redolent of workers’ accommodations: muslin curtains, large English sinks, antiqued bureaus play against DSL connections, tv’s and vcr’s.There are decorative antique plates everywhere, and each room has its share of artsy-funky elegance; ebay purchased paint –by-numbers décor.It’s just plain fun.

Views from our front windows (see Part B below):
MASS MoCA is the factory seen on the far right, across the canal.

So after we stuff ourselves with breakfast: croissants, pain au chocolat, multigrain bread, cheese, cereal, juice, coffee, yogurt, eggs, we waddle over to MASS MoCA, where we explore the work of cutting edge artists from all over the world.

Part B.  2008

Now that you have some background on the area, you will get an idea of why we make this journey each year. The areas we visit and the things we do offer delight. A fresh look at culture, culture from many places. Art is a mere reflection of the zeitgeist of the world.

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA), taken from The Porches, our hotel.

Flag, from the veranda of The Porches

I love Mass MoCA and how it became a Berkshires hub for modern culture and entertainment. The exhibits are always new; they challenge one’s thinking, imagination, and perception.

Here are a few that I thought were fascinating. Remember that this was a former factory–the building is huge, the galleries are endless, and there are subgalleries. (There are also concert areas, education rooms, a performance area, a very cool gift shop, and café.

Exhibit Theme:
Badlands
New Horizons in Landscape

Anslem Kiefer, poet of war. Etroits sont Les Vaisseaux 80 foot long concrete wave sculpture evokes a catastrophe.

From series Eastern Standard: Western Artists in China incredible photos of frightening lack of individuality.

Mary Temple: “Northwest Corner, Southwest Light”
The artist painted the delicate shadows on the walls and stained the floor to emulate shadows–no light tricks here.

J. Henry Fair

These beautiful, yet horrific images, are large aerial photographs of toxic waste from spots throughout the country.

In a gallery the size of a football field, the floor is strewn with huge beanbags.
People plop and rest–you have to. This is overwhelming in many ways. There is a poem being projected from both sides of the gallery and the words overcome you.
Processing language becomes difficult, then slowly you read one here and there. If you stand in the middle, the words collide. You feel like you are sinking, moving with language, you get lost in it. You don’t really understand it until you walk to a viewing point outside and above. There you see it:
Words. Shadows. Language. Light. That’s all.

Steinkamp’s installation is a huge projection on a wall of a digital tree morphing with the seasons; it  is mesmerizing.  The bare tree sways with grace and suddenly develops pink blossoms that turn to green leaves; without warning they turn orange. It is all too beautiful. It is digital art imitating nature.

The work is called, “Mike Kelley, 2007” as a dedication. The brochure reads as follows:

Jennifer Steinkamp’s video installations function ans environments, enveloping the viewer. Using technology to present the natural, she creates hybrid forms of trees and flowers that exist in a virtual realm. The animations seem close to realistic, while at the same time retaining unmistakkable digital traces, the juxtaposition of the two amking the reakity of the outdoors seem even more surreal. On view in Badlands is Mike Kelley, a monumental tree projection named after influential Los Angeles artist Mike Kelley. Kelley’s work is often dark, exploring the possibilites for horror and humor in nostalgia-infused images of american life. with the gentle movement of a single hallucinatory tree in an indefinite space, Steinkamp’s work becomes a haunting homage.

reply vickieann wrote on Jul 19, ’08 Shelburne Falls is very close to North Adams if you follow along Route 2. (The one with the hair pin turn.) I blogged about our trip on the motorcycles last year with some pics of The Bridge of Flowers. You might want to meander over that way next year, and you can see glacial pot holes in the river near the falls.

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jul 19, ’08, edited on Jul 19, ’08 vickieann said Shelburne Falls is very close to North Adams if you follow along Route 2. (The one with the hair pin turn.) I blogged about our trip on the motorcycles last year with some pics of The Bridge of Flowers. You might want to meander over that way next year, and you can see glacial pot holes in the river near the falls. We were there!!! I have photos! Loved it-stopped on the way! http://sanssouciblogs.multiply.com/journal/item/128/53.

reply starfishred wrote on Jul 19, ’08 very interesting nice travel log and well I am not really interested in contemorary art this is really interesting.

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jul 20, ’08 starfishred said very interesting nice travel log and well I am not really interested in contemorary art this is really interesting. I can understand your feelings. Some of it can be way out. But I hve always found pieces that mean something, that make sense beyond the strangeness. There is an elegance to these pieces, and there was so much more that I couldn’t even begin to convey. The theme is subtly the environment and what is happening to it, a very important topic with so many interpretations.

reply millimusings wrote on Jul 20, ’08 How interesting and I can see why it draws you back. I enjoyed the little vids and all your explanations and the lodging looks fun too.

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jul 20, ’08 millimusings said How interesting and I can see why it draws you back. I enjoyed the little vids and all your explanations and the lodging looks fun too. http://www.porches.com/index2.html It’s quite cool–it was the company housing for the factory where the workers worked-now the museum. All the accoutrements are like retro chic. Because we are members of the museum, we get a free upgrade to a suite. It’s nice to spread out.

reply annedigitalis wrote on Jul 20, ’08 That picture of Jack’s look like it could have been taken in the 50’s. The video reminds me of something I saw on the PBS public art show. When they took memories of all the different people that lived in one building and projected those words onto the building. On Friday I went in NYC to see some of the public art I saw in that PBS show, I posted the pics on my page. The Erector set skyscraper was really amazing to see up close. We did see the waterfalls too, but couldn’t take the boat ride to see them up close. Have to go back to do that, as well as check out “Play the Building”.

reply belita747 wrote on Jul 21, ’08 Very very interesting. You have described and illustrated your viist in a so vivid way that for a while I got the illlusion that I have been there together with you. Great post. Thanks for sharing. Have a great week.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jul 21, ’08 Wow, that projected poem is amazing ! I’ll have to come back later…We’re going to the beach.

reply hurricanekate wrote on Jul 26, ’08 I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’d have loved to have seen that art first hand~!!!!!

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Ralph Stanley signs autographs at a concert.[/caption]