I was in New York City for 8 days from November 3 to November 10. Throughout my time there, I tried to journal as much as I can because I wanted to keep a travelogue for my entire trip. I find writing very soothing and reflective. Writing also kept me from forgetting the little details of my trip, like looking at what's on people's iPod in the subway and the name of the homeless guy who asked me for money (Jimmy). At the end, I did not have enough time or energy to write everyday and everything, but I did my best and I estimated there are more than 20 pages of personal entries, maybe more. It would take a long time for me to type up everything, which is something i am not going to do. So I decided to write a series of blogs to reflect and summarize my trip.
If you are interested in the pictures I've taken during the trip, give me your e-mail and I'll invite you to my flickr.
Museums in New York City:
New York has a lot of museums, and museums of all kinds. It is a candyland for museum lovers. Museum admission fees was my biggest (and only) expense (but I posed as a student to pay less). I'm a big museum bug since I was a kid. My passion traces back when I was little kid, I really wanted to see a mummy and I found out the British Museum has an extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts. I am also a big Michelangelo fan and visiting the Vatican City was my dream. The excitement of visiting the British Museum, the Louvre and St. Peter's Basilica was indescribable memories for me. Hence, visiting 10 museums in 8 days was a bliss for me.
Here are my ratings (from a scale of 1 to 5) for the museums I visited this time:
MoMA (Museum of Modern Art): 5 stars. MoMA is still my favorite NYC museums because it has an excellent collection of paintings by western artists across the board from 19th cenurty til today. Its rotating exhibition is always interesting, and the current "Eyes On Europe" (featuring european artists from 60s to now) does not disappoint. "Manet and The Execution of Maximilian" was a nice surprise. The photography section is not to be missed, either. The new building (at least) doubles its size. It is a shame I did not have enough time to finish everything (namely the first floor), but I did finish most of the stuff I've seen. I recommend everyone to spend at least 4 hours at MoMA. Friday nights are free. Audio tours are always free at MoMA.
The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts. 4 & 1/2 stars.
If I am not mistaken, the Met is the biggest museum in New York City (You can never be too sure in NYC). Simply say, the Met has everything. Arts from different culture, decorative arts, weapons and what not. It is only a matter of time before Ikea's collection has a room in there. The Met is so big it is not easy to navigate (for me). I asked the security guards a couple of times for direction inside the museum (the map is not helping). The lighting of the museum annoyed me because the light source comes from a weird angle (for a lot of paintings) which makes it impossible to look at some paintings at a near distance. Some paintings are placed up high on the wall (above another one), again made it impossible to look at it closely. However, my biggest personal problem with the Met is the anger inside me when I see the Chinese and Egyptian collection. Some of the arts maybe collected legitimately. But I am very sure a lot of them were STOLEN and ROBBED from the natives when the white men invaded their countries. As an ethnic Chinese, I was very disturbed by that feeling. I remembered having the same revelation when I visited the British Museum ten years ago. Why the 4&1/2-star rating then? The Museum has a great collection of 19- 20th century art. The Ambroise Vollard exhibit is top-notched and the museum's own Edgar Degas collection features the most Degas' artwork than you can ever find (from oil to pastel to sculptures).
The Whitney Museum. 4 stars. Their Edward Hopper (Nighthawks and other paintings) collection was my favorite part. I like Hopper's deciption of desolation and ambience. His paintings has a voyeuristic quality which makes the viewer feels like he/she is watching the characters in a distance. They are all very cinematic and enigmatic, there is always a story hidden behind the canvas. I consider him an influence on my own photographs (of course, I am no where close to his excellency). I also saw an interesting exhibition showing how Picasso influence his American peers (including Gorky, De Kooning, Pollock and many others). They even show their paintings side by side.
The Morgan Library and Museum. Founded by banker JP Morgan, it features the collection of the Morgan family and the senior Morgan's own study room. I only visited there after learning there is a "Bob Dylan's American Journey 1956-1966" exhibition. The Bob Dylan showcase is definitely 5 stars for a Dylan fan like me, where you can see anything from his guitar to his hand-written letters and lyrics. There are also stations for listening to his albums during that time period. If not for the Bob Dylan exhibition, the Morgan Library is probably a 2-star location because there was not much to see. Mozart Manuscripts? It won't take me more than 10 minutes and who reads German, huh?
The International Center for Photography. 4 stars. It is located in Midtown Manhattan, so it is an easy location and I highly recommend it to everyone. It features mostly journalistic photographs. The current topic is "Ecotopia", so basically all the photos have something to deal with the enviroment. Hurricane Katrina, Tsunami, Global Warming and Deforestation... you name it . The slideshows are awesome. I love the short films featured there but people should not expect to be amused by sitting down for just 30 seconds. Just pay attention and you'll find some gems. "Safari" by Catherine Chalmers is about a cockroach venturing a jungle of different insects, reptiles and amphibians. "Imported Crows" by Goran Devic talked about the relationship between small town Croatian and the huge amount of crows inhabited there, subtly linking the sentiment to the ethnic tensions there.
Jacques Marchias Museum of Tibetan. 3 1/2 stars. I only visited this small museum after stumbling onto Staten Island by chance (what Buddhist-esque coincident). Jacques Marchias was actually a woman. She took a French man's name in order to attract customers as an antique dealer. She was not a Buddhist but she built this temple-like museum before she died. According to the tour guide, Dalai Lama said she is an reincarnation of a Lama. The sand mandala, which took a Bhutanese monk 4 days and his fingers only to make, was eye-opening for me, something I've only seen in Scorsese's film Kundun. Monks believe in the impermenance of and nonattachment to material things, so they usually destroy the sand mandalas soon after they are done. It was rare for this one to be kept for exhibition purposes. The other Tibetan artifacts are very delicate. Most people won't visit Staten Island and this is pretty far from Manhattan. But by chance, you're on the island, this is the one place to go. The so-called nearby (took me at least 20 minutes of walking) Frank Lloyd Wright house was a waste of time. I was not impressed. Not at all.
The National Museum of American Indian. 3 1/2stars. I needed to use the restroom badly (you know how hostile NYC is to one's bladder) and the admission is free, so I stumbled into this fine and underrated museum. The pottery reminded me how important it is for the Native Americans to continue their art because it keeps their culture alive. The pottery figures are made in simple shapes and I can relate to their style. It's lovely, it's free and there's a restroom. Why not visit there if you're around the area (near the Staten Island Ferry in Manhattan).
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. 3 stars. I got a free admission from my MoMA ticket. If you're in Queens. This would be a nice place to go (not too far). Most post-modern and modern artwork (like its namesake). The "Music is a better noise" is an interesting exhibition, which features artwork by musicians like Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Alan Vega (Suicide) and many others. The building was a high school.
Queens Museum of Art. 2 & 1/2 stars. I went there because I wanted to see the Panorama of NYC, a 9,000 square foot model of the city. Very unfortunately, the model was closed for construction. It was a big letdown. The World Fair history was not very interesting. The "Queens International" exhibition featuring local artists was okay.
Museum of Sex. 1 & 1/2 star. It was my biggest disappointment. There are a lot of history and artifacts on pornography and BDSM, but a comparatively small and not very impressive take on other aspects of human sexuality. And the admission fee is relatively expensive ($13.50). On the survey I filled out, I wrote they should include a more feminist perspective in the museum.
