Museum Mile Part 1

Not a new work by Christo- obviously Mr. Wright's building wasn't expecting guests...

""Bullshit is just bullshit unless it's done really well, then it's ART." from panel by PSYOP at Design Triennial

I have a list for the summer of things I absolutely positively want to do. Kind of. If I can. OK, I'm going to try. OK I did this, the rest'll be a crap shoot and I won't list them here because then I'll feel guilty if I miss one. Maybe I'll list them later. Pardon the wishy washy-ness it's just 6:30 am.

The Museum Mile- all the Museums near and along 5th Avenue open their doors for free and let the folk who might balk at the $10-$20 admission stop them have a peek at the art. Despite the on and off torrential rain and intermittent thunder, there were lots of folks. I had come with a goal- some people try and see as many museums as they can *I* had just one museum and one show to see- the Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt Museum. The Cooper Hewitt is a middle-sized museum here- in an abundance of riches, NYC has the Met, The Guggenheim, The Whitney, The Museum of Natural History and the snooty Frick- and those are just the heavy hitters. The Cooper Hewitt focuses on design with a capitol D- clothing, housewares, textiles, architecture, graphics and interactive work and more. I will write about the CONTENT of this show later on, but for now- the experience. Last night was so big I have to deal with it in pieces.



This man took a Patton-like approach early on, planning his attack on the Mile under the shelter of the Guggenheim's scaffolding.



The line for the Guggenheim stretched for 4 blocks- in NYC we are nothing if not pretty and as I have mentioned before, we love a good line!



A four-piece jazz combo entertained with standards like "Night in Tunisia"



Chalk drawing in the middle of Fifth Avenue



The front of the Cooper Hewitt- tarted up with it's designer "shower curtain". My bag was searched as I entered by a guard with a little baton. He tapped on a bowl in my bag... "What have we here?" he asked- "My lunch bowl" I replied. "Kinda big..." he opined. "It was a salad" I explained wondering why the HELL he cared- or even more pressing- why was I TELLING him? "You know they have these plastic bowls at the supermarket..." he began. I smiled and looked behind me at the growing line of people who were not interested in how I transported my lunch that day. He looked over my shoulder and was seemingly surprised- yes, bud- lots more lunch bowls to inspect here tonight.... He motioned me to move along with a sheepish grin. My luck to get the only guard in Manhattan with a Tupperware fetish.



The view from inside (shhhhhhhhhh- no pictures!) Here is the trick... TAKE the picture, and when the guard yells at you,
say "I didn't see any signs.. Sorry!" I find it helps to use the same line but different attitudes- Puzzlement. Righteous Anger. Extreme Debilitating Remorse. Affected Cameraderie. Note: It does nothing in terms of believability HOW you say this as this line will only work once per guard but it keeps your delivery fresh.



Here is where I got caught- flipped off a couple of shots and the guard yelled " I SAID no PICTURES, Miss" (Oh THANK you for not saying M'am) "ME?" I said. My eyebrows went way up into my hairline... "YOU." " I didn't know..." I said, hand to chest in absolute aghast. "I told you ten minutes ago!" he blustered (it sounded like "meeenutes"- he was from Ecuador...) I said, in Spanish- "It could not have been me, I would have remembered anything YOU told me" and looked at him through lowered lashes. He sort of fussed for a second, then puffed up his chest as he began to get that I might be flirting with him, then smiled. "No more pictures, muneca, ok?" (Muneca means "doll" in Spanish) I thanked him and smiled as I walked off. Don't try this at home, folks. Definitely an advanced move for rule benders. Oh- these lighted panels played musical tones and fluttered on and off as you walked by... it was cool, though I hated that it covered the panelling on the stairs



The Kidrobot/Pixar room. A giant Munny AND a huge Smorkin Labbit.... I died and went to injection-molded limited edition plastic toy heaven.



Folks dress up for this....



I grab a knish under a tree for supper while it rained



Harp player under the scaffolding- She played beautifully. A man walked past the harpist and her onlookers talking loudly on his cel and an elderly women reached out and slapped him on the shoulder "Shah!" she yelled. "She's making music here!"
I love this city.



Top of the Met



Sunset over Central Park.



And what goes better with a crowded subway car home than...



A three-piece Mexican band!

:) X 23.5





and in answer to the Kiwi's query- 14 labbits, 2 munnies and counting.... oh and bud? Next time take the walk with me so you can help carry the labbit...