First, I must tell you how much we miss Tanner and Sterling! We have talked to them several times and they have been telling us what a great time they have had so far. Sterling spent the first part of the week with Chase. The Bixby family has been so great to him and Sterling has enjoyed every minute catching up with one of his best friends. Sterling is now heading to his cousins house (Thanks Jana and Tim). Tanner started the week with Parker at the Burman's house. He always feels at home there and has had a blast. He then went to his cousins house and had a wonderful time playing with them all (Thanks Jana and Tim Krumal). I will have them give you a full recap when they get back. I need to thank Pop and Dee Dee for picking the boys up at the airport and helping to coordinate their time in Sac. The boys are looking forward to spending the weekend with them.
Well, after some more swimming and fishing we left Yogi and stayed the night outside of Milwaukee (SC). The next morning we headed into the city. Milwaukee is a beautiful city full of life. I have been here before on one of my GMS shows and was very excited to be back. We started the morning at the famous Milwaukee Art Museum. Just looking at the building that holds the amazing collection is breathtaking.
When we arrived at the welcome desk we were greeted by the nicest girl (Emily). She had also traveled around the US and gave us some wonderful tips as to where to go on our adventure. When you first enter the museum you are blown away by the uniqueness of building. The windows surrounded by numerous white beams in the lobby immediately grab your attention. It is spectacular but not as spectacular as the view from the windows. The shores of Lake Michigan.
Once inside the museum you are surrounded by the works of many famous artists including Claude Monet, Jules Bastien-LePage, Renoir, Edmund C. Tarbell and so many others. I really was amazed by the Egyptian, 30th dynasty mummy coffin. Peyton loved a few of the exhibits in the contemporary art section. One made you feel as if you were walking in a 3D mirror maze. It was hundreds of lighted neon cords hanging from the ceiling in a dark room. You got to walk thru them which was very exciting for Peyton. The other one was a box that you stepped into and you were surrounded by little light dots. You really felt like you were in a Star Wars movie. Peyton thought it was cool. Dave made his own art in the shadow room.
After the art museum Peyton wanted to go to the Discovery Museum which was located next door. This was very interactive and quite fun. It also had an aquarium inside it. One of our favorite exhibits was the bee hive room where we experienced a 4D presentation of the solar system. Peyton spent the entire time trying to grab the planets. Peyton was also really amazed by the bed of nails (I know... this just gives Good Sam ammo) and the aquarium. Peyton is very intrigued by fish right now. He would actually rather catch them than look at them. Although he did enjoy petting the sting rays and sturgeon, and feeling the star fish. 
Peyton also had fun pretending to be the captain of a ship.
After the museum we headed downtown for dinner. We had a nice dinner on the river at a place called Rock Bottom Brewery. We then headed to a place that I had been to last time I was in Milwaukee called the Safe House. This place is really cool. You have to know the passcode to get in. If not, you have to earn your entrance by doing something silly. Dave and his mohawk danced like a ballerina. It was quite cute. Once inside you realize that everyone in the restaurant can see you do the dance. The whole place is a tribute to spies with a bunch of hidden fun things for you to discover. We just walked thru, but Peyton thought it was really cool. Getting in was tough but getting out was even more fun. You go into a phone booth dial a number then get then secret code that when entered a secret door opens that takes you down stairs, through an old brick tunnel, then out to an alley. Pretty cool. We then headed back to the RV very exhausted but with lots of great memories.
Thought of the day: So, inside the museum there was a ton of incredible art. There was also some contemporary art that seriously looked as if Peyton did it (I honestly think Peyton could have done it better). I seriously don't get it! How can a canvas painted a solid color be considered such fine art that it is in a art museum? Do people really look at this art and say "Wow" this is amazing! What an artist! What technique! What artistic ability! I think it is like the Emperors New Clothes. People in the art industry want to look as if they can see things that the average Joe can't. I think they see the same scribble that the average Joe but act as if they are seeing a masterpiece so that others see them as masters. I could be wrong since I admit I am just an average Joe and maybe the naked king really is wearing clothes. I guess "art" really is in the eye of the beholder and it least it gives one hope that anyone can be a world class artist!
1 comment:
I have really been enjoying your blog! I just read today's and thought I would offer you a ridiculously long opinion piece about your 'thought of the day'. ;)
I did some self-guided research on this very subject after spending copious amounts of time in art museums on my 'art tours' in Europe. I couldn't understand what the big deal was about *so* much of the work that went on display in art museums.
I'm not an art expert by any means (I don't even play one on TV), but my conclusion was that artists or specific works of art are generally valued if they meet any of the following criteria:
The work (or group of works) must...
- be stunningly beautiful and unique to the point where no other artist could take credit for it or possibly even reproduce it
- record a historical figure or event, including social or political movements (even if the meaning behind the piece may be hidden to the casual observer)
- offer a breakthrough in artistic expression (by technique or subject matter) or invoke thought into 'unexplored territory'
- i forgot the fourth one
The third one can encompass so much, and it seems like a large percentage of the art celebrated today falls under this category.
Looking back in history, it was a big deal when paintings went from looking 'flat' to appearing dimensional (and the paintings that were completed during this transition are still valued today despite often being insignificant otherwise). Or in the case of impressionism, going from painting things as realistic as possible and depicting subject matters universally deemed as 'important', to painting everyday scenes by capturing the impression of light and color using broad, often nondescript brush strokes. Most people (especially the art critics!) hated impressionism when it first made its appearance in France. Those may be bad examples since many would argue that they both improved on the aesthetic value of art as well, but hopefully I made my point anyway - they were breakthroughs in art.
As for the solid-colored paintings you saw today, those clearly fall under the 'breakthrough' category. If I recall correctly (I probably don't), the statement of the artist was that the effect of color has a significant emotional impact on people (red = rage, green = calm, blue = serene etc.), and the artist was very careful to choose specific colors that would invoke certain feelings in the person viewing the piece. They were painted large so the observer would be immersed in the piece and wouldn't be able to escape the feeling the artist was trying to create. This was the first artist to make a statement about color in this way, which is what gave his work such notoriety. The technique may have been simple, but the thought behind it broke new ground.
(To drag out my opinion piece a little longer) I went to a couple great photography exhibits in May when I was in the Netherlands. The first one was a large exhibit of blown-up photographs of rooms (very large prints). Most of the rooms were small, simple and very plain with unremarkable wooden furnishings. Some pictures were of rooms full of file cabinets. My friends and I walked through the exhibit and couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal (especially since it took up the whole museum!). The compositions were good, no doubt. As was the lighting and the tonality - very natural yet the exposures were well-controlled. But a breakthrough in photography it was not - nothing really stuck out, to the point that we were mocking the curator of the museum and questioning the fame of the photographer as we hastily made our way towards the exit. I just happened to catch the explanation of the exhibit on the exit wall...
The rooms depicted in the photographs were secret rooms where the Stasi once hid to spy on people in Eastern Germany during the Cold War. The photos were taken within a short time of the fall of the Berlin Wall to record them so people would never forget. I think the name of the exhibit was "Never Again" (until reading the explanation I thought they were referring to the boring room decor in the pictures - never decorate like that again! heh). We went back through the exhibit and it seriously gave us chills. It was a very moving exhibit worthy of all the space it took up (and then some). (Note: if you haven't seen "The Lives of Others", put it on your must-see list; it's an awesome movie about the Stasi and life in Eastern Germany but unfortunately not for the kids at all).
This was a good lesson for me in appreciating art not only for it's aesthetic value, but also for the meaning behind it. We saw another exhibit the next day where (embarrassingly) the same thing happened - seriously amazing stuff, but we didn't realize it until we were leaving and caught the explanation, which blew all of us away. I would tell you about it but I think the length of my post just surpassed that of your entire blog. Anyway you would think we would have learned the first time! heh ;)
I'm glad you're enjoying your adventure and I'm certainly enjoying your blog. Keep up the good work!
PS Dave, I really think you should hold onto the haircut as long as you can. I bet it serves as a great lesson to everyone you meet!
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