Big Bambu - on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum

That wacky weather in New York the weekend I visited kept the exhibition on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum closed for most of the day because of torrential rains, but when Binnie and I were about to walk out the front door of the Met at five o'clock, Binnie spotted the sunshine outside and asked if the roof had opened. Sure enough, it was open and we decided to delay our progress to the Whitney and take a look at "Big Bambu, You Can't, You Don't and You Won't Stop" by Doug and Mike Starn. (Link to Met site.)

Overview of early construction with Doug and Mike Starn at left (from the Starn website) NOTE: Be sure to click on this picture and others to enlarge them so you can see the detail. The Starns' wide pix especially are hard to see in this small size.

If you watch the video below, you'll see how the Starn twins finish each other's sentences without skipping a beat. Imagine how much more art-making you could achieve with a truly simpatico other half of your being - you could be in two places at once and have twice the creative power! It makes me envious just thinking about it. but surely it can't always be true? Anyway, it's true as far as Big Bambu goes.

Looking up through the forest of poles

Binnie observing (Doesn't this remind you of that Degas painting of Mary Cassatt looking at a painting at a museum? All the Binster needs is an umbrella.)

This is a massive work, ultimately to be 100 feet long x 50 feet wide and 50 feet high, that takes the form of a cresting wave made of 5,000 bamboo poles lashed together with 50 miles of nylon rope. The work combines sculpture, architecture and performance as it continues to be constructed throughout the exhibition period by the Starns and a team of rock climbers. By opening day on April 27th, the construction had reached its 100 feet long x 50 feet wide dimensions, but the height was 30 feet then and will continue to be built up on either end during the course of the exhibition until it reaches about 50 feet high.

Part of the rock-climbing team adding poles to the construction (also from the Starn website)

When you come out onto the roof garden from the elevator, you are surrounded by bamboo poles and it's pretty hard to get an idea of what's going on. The tendency is to walk outward toward the edge and the view of the skyline and then to look back at the structure.

Even when you go as far away from it as possible, you are still not able to get back enough to see the whole structure.

Browning hedges in foreground, exit on middle left with people leaving and to the right of that, a pile of bamboo branches with leaves still attached that are being added as construction continues.

And did I mention that when we went out on the roof from the air-conditioned museum, it was about 98 degrees and 75 percent humidity? That's the reason for the pained look on my face. I don't do heat.

The views of the skyline were really fabulous.

But I think that being in the midst of all the poles, what struck me most were the ropes and the intricate ties that joined the poles together. Apparently each thickness of rope was a different color and the rope had been cut in pre-established lengths so that any extra rope hung down from the ties.

I was really taken with the pathway coming down on the left side of the structure. It had amazing groups of poles that had obviously been put together with great care.

These conjunctions were my favorite part of the installation. As the Starns say in their video, "The interconnections are where all the activity happens and something gets made."





Putting this work more in context
In case you think this kind of construction is unique to the Starns, take a look at some of these sites that show how bamboo is used for scaffolding on building sites in Asia: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/6888/hong-kong-bamboo-scaffolding.html
http://www.uoregon.edu/~struct/courseware/hk1/hk1_bamboo/bamboo.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5yTvE3_qp4  (I wasn't able to embed this video but it's pretty cool.)

Arting in New York

Both times this year that I've been to New York there have been weather extremes. Last February Binnie and I trudged through 17 inches of snow to see El Anatsui and Leonardo Drew in Chelsea. This past weekend, we drove in through torrential rainstorms on Friday and trained in on Saturday in temps that were 90-plus degrees by nine in the morning in the Connecticut exurbs. But what's a little weather when there's so much to see!

So I went a little crazy with the photographs of course and now the thought of resizing and adjusting them is making me feel tired already. But I never expected to use them all.

Conveying the vast richness of what we saw seems daunting and better approached by dividing to conquer it all. I propose doing a series of posts with images and details of those I thought were outstanding. Some of them have already been covered extensively and unbeatably by Joanne Mattera, so I'm going to skip those but maybe mention some of my personal favorites in those shows.

An assemblage of NY memorabilia including a photo of Binnie and me waiting in line outside the Whitney on Friday evening, snapped by a Keds' promotion staffer.

So here is a list of prospective posts with an image from each of them to pique your interest. I'm not sure about the order in which they'll actually appear, but these are things I would like to cover.

Tutankhamun's Funeral at the Metropolitan Museum 

One of the necklaces/collars of beads and leaves found in Tutankhamun's funeral cache, ca. 1336-1327 BC

This was a fabulous show of objects that I have never seen the like of. I was especially bowled over by these collars and other fiber items that have survived more than 3,000 years.

Famous Paintings/Sculptures that are mind boggling in person (mostly at MoMA)

Detail from "Rebus" of 1955 by Robert Rauschenberg, 8'H x 10'11" W

Henri Matisse - we saw the 'Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917" show at MoMA but no photography was allowed. I'm going to use some images from the website (I hope) to discuss it. Meanwhile, here is one of my favorite Matisse paintings that was not in the exhibition because it is was painted earlier.

"The Red Studio," 1911, about 6' H x 7' W

Charles Burchfield, Heat Waves in a Swamp, at the Whitney Museum

"An April Mood," 1948-1955, 40"x54", watercolor and charcoal on joined paper.

This is a fabulous show of huge, extremely dynamic watercolor paintings. The Whitney did an excellent job with this show and have it installed on the whole 3rd floor. Since they have an asinine policy of no photography anywhere in the museum, I couldn't photo it myself, but I bought the wonderful book and will take some pix from there to show you. 

Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography

Annette Messager, "My Vows," 1988-1991. (Framed photos and hand-written vows hanging from strings push-pinned to the wall.)

I'm not a photography buff, but I was really impressed with this extensive, inclusive and very well organized show of photographs spanning the entire history of photography. Pretty stunning!

Big Bambu, Mike and Doug Starn, an installation on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum

The enormous and intricate bamboo structure alone is worth the trip, but when you view the New York skyline through it (and the back of Binnie's head), it is a totally unique experience.

Other Faves - mostly sculpture - from all the museums

Yayoi Kusama, Violet Obsession, 1994, rowbow and oars covered with "phallic forms" made of stuffed fabric.

My New York posts will begin later this week after the next installation of The Questionnaire - this week featuring Debra Claffey.