On the Road: MASS MoCA

As discussed in previous posts, our frequent visits to MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) hold numerous advantages.  Once we're there, especially if we stay at Porches Inn across the street from the museum, everything is within walking distance: a hot tub, several enjoyable restaurants, book stores, coffee shops, bars, concerts and, of course, the largest contemporary art museum in the United States.  Highlights from our most recent visit...

From Osman Khan's Road to Hybridabad exhibition:

From Jeffrey Gibson's Power Full Because We're Different exhibition:

From Amy Yoes's Hot Corners exhibition:

Among the museum's more permanent features is the work of James Turrell, one of the most prominent artists in the Light and Space movement.  The two highlights - for us - are Hind Sight and C.A.V.U.  

For Hind Sight, two people follow a guided path into a dimly lit room.  Very dimly lit.  Essentially pitch black.  You sit for 15 minutes, just long enough for your eyes to begin to adjust.  I've done the experience twice now.  By about minute 10, I start to perceive the faintest light.  My wife describes it as greyish.  I think I saw a few more shapes the first time.  In both cases, I felt I needed maybe five more minutes.

C.A.V.U. was created out of a repurposed concrete water tank.  One can visit any time of day but the experience is most gratifying at dawn and dusk.  In the ceiling are two concentric circles, the larger one taking up the entire ceiling, 40 feet across, the smaller one maybe 10 feet across.  It's sort of an eyeball/iris relationship.  The colors of the two circles change depending on sunlight.  Most of the time, the smaller circle is darker but occasionally that switches.  We lied on the floor.  I found that if you relax your gaze enough, the two circles blend together.  Your eyes fight against it, of course, and it's hard when the people around you are whispering.  Ahem!

Both pieces require patience.  There are many ways to approach an art museum, of course.  My own default is to move relatively quickly from one piece to the next.  With Turrell's work, the time invested is essential to the experience.  If you're impatient, you'll miss the whole point, which is to connect with your own experience of the vision process.  I like that.

Our excuse to visit last weekend was a concert: the Kasambwe Brothers, a trio from Malawi.  MASS MoCA's concert organizers evidently have strong connections in the African music scene.   We saw Seun Kuti, a more established star, over the summer.  In 2023, we saw Kaleta and Super Yamba Band - technically Brooklyn-based but with strong ties to the Afro-funk scene.  The Kasambwe experience was more novel.  Saturday's concert was their first performance outside of Malawi.  They're taking part in a residency at the museum where, in addition to their live show, they will be recording their first full-length album.  

Their music was downright joyful, much needed in these difficult times.  Referring to the photo, the instrument in the middle is a babatoni, essentially a bass banjo: four strings with a bass drum body.  As far as I can tell, it is unique to Malawi.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend.  We'll definitely be back, and we'll be keeping an eye out for that new album.