North Adams, MA

We spent too long and drove too much getting from Harrisburg, PA to North Adams, but have one memorable reward.  Unfortunately, we have no photo of the fall leaves reflected in a lake during a moment of perfect light.  Just create your own perfect image of fall foliage and you too might see what we saw.  Regardless, in the am, we were able to see where we parked the RV.

Some might say things got worse this morning when we awoke to rain.  The water drops were accompanied by leaf drops, not a good sign for foliage viewing.  However, being who we are we made “lemonade from the lemons” and headed off for a day at a museum.

Our lovely campsite is in the north Berkshires, an area filled with outstanding art museums, galleries and studios housed in the remains of 19th century factory buildings.  On a previous trip we spent a day at the renowned Clark Museum of Art.  This time we went to the Mass. Museum of Contemporary Art.  Those who know Jerry are familiar with his attitude toward most contemporary art.  Well, this time he was impressed with most of what we saw.  Below we share our favorite collections.

Jerry made a bee-line for the wood creations of Jason Middlebrook.  He uses reclaimed wood as well as other collected materials.  “Falling Water,” named for the F. L. Wright home, is made from large blocks of Styrofoam.but appears in a state of decay.  It hints of the buildings of this area and of the effects of the super storms of our time.

The art of Xu Bing is “jaw-dropping.”  That is what happened when we entered the 300-foot-long main gallery and gazed up at two soaring phoenixes. 

Originally commissioned by a Beijing real estate developer, the “Phoenix Project” was controversial because the material used reflected poorly on the Chinese economic state.  Bing planned his pieces to contrast with the modern buildings they were intended for.  He made them from the collected debris from the construction sites, intending to show the contrast between the luxury of the new financial building and the waste left behind.  Today the massive and magnificent pieces are on long-term display in an abandoned warehouse turned art museum, a fitting home.

Xu Bing’s “Tobacco Project” is made of a half million cigarettes.  Irony plays a role in this piece also.  The artist was in residence at Duke University in Durham, NC when he started “1st Class.”  The Duke family made some of their fortune from selling cigarettes to the Asian market in the 1900s.  In China the tiger is a symbol of both luxury and colonialism.  The artist’s tiger is also a symbol of the indulgence in and risks of tobacco.
 

We walked through a long, dark tunnel to view Sol LeWitt’s geometric shapes.

We still sought a bit more art and went to Eclipse, a former factory turned into studios.  The photographic artist Chad Kleitsch reminded us of the lecture we enjoyed back in DC (earlier entry).