I’m no good at multi-tasking…or so I’ve been told. Yesterday, however, I had a meeting while checking out this year’s Armory Show. Now who says I can’t multi-task!? Probably the same people as before. I have only the tolerance to spend no more than three hours wandering up and down rows of art, so I regret to say that I probably only saw a third of the whole show. It’s OK though, with a student discount, plus a strange Facebook “check-in” discount, it only cost me $10 to attend. It was well worth it. For about the first two and a half hours I was excited about a lot of what I saw. It was only nearing that third hour that I began to lose focus. My feet and legs ached, my mind felt tired, and my complaining syndrome had just started to set in…HEY, I cannot help it…it’s a medical condition.
Here’s some of what I saw…
Kiki Smith’s Alice in Wonderland-esque pieces…I like.
This list…I forget the artist, because it was my day off and I refused to take notes…which I now regret (I do remember that he was Japanese). Everybody knows I love lists…making them, reading them, checking them off…every aspect of them.
This piece by David Jien was my favorite in the the whole show…at least what I saw of the show. Yeah, I don’t know why and I cannot really explain it either. It’s just a special feeling I get when looking at it.
Collector, 2 Peacocks and 3-dimensional Objects.(color pencil, gouache, and holographic film on paper).
I also really liked this sculpture. It was right up my alley: childlike on the outside, made like a playhouse, but like a miniature bar for adults on the inside…very deceiving. There was also reflective glass, so that no one could see inside from the outside, but from the inside you could see everything. I cannot remember who the artist was…shame.
These plates were cool. Nothing special, just plates that said things like, “Mascara lies.” I tend to agree.
So an owl walked into a bar… Something about an owl wearing red pants really took to me. (Drawing by Isabelle Fein).
I ended my rounds by kneeling next to this older Brazilian woman who was making crazy Sharpie drawings on the floor. In order to get one, you had to have a special eye contact moment with her…and only then would she slide over one of her “special” drawings followed by throwing her head back in a strange laughter. I wanted to be in on her joke, but I think she was the only one in on it. Mine was not nearly as cool as the one she did for the guy before me…I am not so interested in the flower, but the crazy map-like quality is somewhat intriguing. I’m glad I didn’t squish it on my trip to the grocery store afterward.
