Modern

Today's Modern Art Museum

Honestly, I have not been to as many as I'd have liked to, but there is something about today's Modern/Contemporary Art museums worth commenting on in a blog entry. Of course I'm not talking about the museum itself, which I am unusually fond of, but the variety of patrons you observe and encounter. And these realizations could not have been made during one's first experience, well perhaps they could just not in my situation, but rather the fourth at the SF MOMA. My preceding visits made at LA's MOCA, Seattles COCA, and the MCA chicago, have all been liesurely and casual and of course I had no idea what I was looking at half the time. This most recent visit having been made for academic purposes might have been what changed my outlook. That and having taken upper division courses on Art after modernism and James Housefields history of Modern Design. I was a little less interested in the exhibits than I was in taking photographs and watching the people. Here are a few categories of them.

The Cool kids. Late teens, early to mid 20s young adults who makes their quarterly visit simply because it is the cool, hip, and modern thing to do. They make a noticeable effort to cram as much information as possible in order to relay it to other members of their other pseudo-bohemian clique in order to seem refined in the arts. They wear skinny jeans, thick rimmed glasses and drink 5 dollar lattes.

The Critical Thief. ( I am vainly guilty of dipping my toes in this category) Actual artists and art critics who come to bash what they feel is trash and bull, and appreciate and draw inspiration from what they find ingenious. The museum works as sort of a guideline of what to do and what not to do. Lastly, they look down on other visitors they find to be ignorant.

The Elitist. Our most valued member of society, the bourgeoise consumer of high culture (please note my frequent sarcasm, sometimes it is lost in writing). These people come to these museums simply because it is what they are supposed to do, in between expensive meals, sailing on a boat, and buying houses. These are the people you want to impress and coax into paying thousands for your canvas splattered with acrylics. Rarely do they know anything about art besides its cultural capital that will bring envy from their friends who run in the same circles, and just as importanly, how it would match the furniture and upholstery in their living room.

I accused this man, who is scrutinizing a print by Andy Warhol, of stealing his outfit from a Neiman Marcus mannequin.

That is all for now. There are many more, for example the touring family of four, the man who preys on women who are suckers for this creative stuff, and people who think modern art is just straight up retarded. I'm not saying that these kinds of people are bad. They are most certainly not. One should never judge a person based on their intentions for visiting an art museum. Come to think of it, I have no idea why I wrote about this at all. But lets not forget the old asian security guards. What would a modern art museum be without them?