Leslie Across the USA

"Art" in Minneapolis

So, all I need is a covered wagon, and I'd be just like Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea (or as they call her here, Sakakawea). And, since I am a descendent of Clark, it is quite fitting that I made it to North Dakota for the anniversary of their famous exploration of the west. This is the territory where they met Sacajawea, and it is definitely memorable countryside. I'm sure the poeple of the Dakota territories were more memorable than the land, and that must be why L&C spent so much time here. It is flat. Really, really flat. Like, imagine something flat, like a doormat, and then stretch it out as far as the eye can see, put some cows and wheat fields on it, and make it flatter. That's North Dakota. Of course, I probably would not have put ND on my itinerary if one of my very best buddies Hope didn't call it home right now, but I'm really glad I went. I pushed out of Minneapolis in the mid-afternoon after spending lots of time at the impressive yet bewildering Walker Center for Art. It's a modern art museum and sculpture garden, and it definitely stretched my definitions of art, that's for sure. Some of the art was obviously brilliant, like the silhouettes of slaves and other African American images that were so starkly realized on a white wall that it almost knocked you over the head with its message about the horrors of slavery. I liked how there were no faces, just silhouetts, but you could still really sense the emotion of the images. It was by a young artist named Kara Walker, and it was humbling. It gives me chills to think of how it must have been for slaves and how it could have happened at all. Anyway, that piece was done specifically for the museum, and it was definitely amazing.
Not so amazing, yet I somehow couldn't tear my eyes from it, was a video installation from the 1990s. It was two screens, side by side, and each had the same girl on it. The girl was filmed in two different locations at two different times, but the background was white, so you couldn't really tell they were different spots. Also, she had the same hairdo and outfit on for both. I assume she is not American, mainly because of how she was dressed, and also because the videos were filmed in Holland and England. Now, she never talks, so I have no idea who she is or where she is from, but she just looked European to me. She had camouflage pants, but they weren't real army ones or anything. They were grey and black and white, and she had a grey shirt, and then a sweatshirt tied around her waist. Her hair was long, but it was pulled back in a braid. The werid part was that it was shaved all along the sides and the back, so she only really had hair on the top of her head. She kind of looked like a boy. Anyway, all she does is dance to techno music. The dancing is not in sync, but I think she is listening to the same song in both videos. The music is pumped through speakers in the room where you are supposed to watch (for 26 minutes!) from big beanbag chairs on the floor. I think the music is played separately from the video, and her dancing is so odd. She kind of jerks her body back and forth and then she punches at the air. I don't know how to describe it, and I wanted to laugh at her, but everyone else was so serious about it. Either they got it, and I didn't, or the art happens among those viewing the video, and it's not the video itself. I don't know. I thought it was hilarious, but only in a pathetic way. I only watched it for about 10 minutes or so, and even though I didn't really get it, I had to literally instruct myself to move along to the next piece. It was compelling for some reason.
Some other things in the museum just seemed random, like galvanized tubs full of fake fruit and resin hanging from the ceiling, or a white octagon pasted to a white wall so you can barely see it. I guess I can see their artistic value, but I don't know; modern art kind of makes my head hurt. I like art that is beautiful, even if it isn't very "good." I'll take Chicago's art museums, or the National Gallery anyday over the Walker any day, but I was glad I went. I loved the sculpture garden, the centerpiece of which is a big spoon with a cherry on it. Hope likes that one, too, and she is the one who told me to check it out. So, in one day, I saw a spoon, and then I headed to Grand Forks, so that is kind of fitting. After I headed out of Minneapolis, I decided I'd like to go back there someday and spend more time. It is a really neat city. But, it was on to Grand Forks, and that deserves a post all it's own!

posted by Leslie @ 5:27 PM