Comments on Why I Like Christopher Hawthorne
Couldn't agree more about the Venturi building. It was awful. I was surprised to find out from this post that it was an attempt at wit! Was it such a failed attempt at wit that it couldn't even be perceived, or was that on purpose and I am too dull to pick up on it? Meh, I guess it doesn't matter now that it's gone. Let's see what this new building has to offer.
I liked that Hawthorne took a dig at MoMA which I felt was kind of awful, but felt my judgment questionable given that I am only an art dabbler and that, at 38, I might be entering an inflexible stodgy stage.
MoMA does feel corporate (maybe it's the $20 price tag and the fact that it's midtown). It has some interesting sight lines, but it doesn't feel like it was designed as an art museum. Also, when it opened, there was a big space upstairs that seemed empty and oddly planned. I confess to knowing little about architecture (basically, limited to knowing what I like), but the Noguchi Museum is hands-down the best designed art museum that I've ever seen. Well, actually, the Getty in LA is definitely the best, but seemingly in its own category (given the view and the garden, it's being an art museum seems kind of secondary).
Is it really open 35 straight hours? So we can go at 3 or 5 am and avoid the crowds?
I kinda like the eccentric curve of the Venturi galleries and now that they have been opened up a bit they work much better. Also, after the debacle of the Venturi wing did anyone actually expect SAM to risk another clunker?
Seattle has plenty of showy buildings and Hawthorne is dead right on his assessment of Cloepfil's SAM but Seattle has literally nothing to prove in terms of architectural jewelry.
It might not be an a paradigm shifting piece of architecture but it makes for a good museum. I hate it when museums try to coast on their architecture as a way to earn respect, SAM's gonna have to do that through programming. My best advice let Darling originate national shows. Seattle needs to produce, not merely import.
Comments Closed
In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 45 days old).