MoMA PS1: The Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood

               Happy, sad, and confused are just a few of the emotions I felt during my class second field trip at MoMa PS1 in Long Island City, N.Y. My professor asked of the class to pick three works of art to write about, one work of art that we liked, one that we disliked, and one that we did not understand. As my classmates and I walked around the museum and looked at the different artworks, I found myself getting a little overwhelmed by the randomness of the museum. I remember looking at a good artwork with an interesting story. Then looking at the artwork next to it and being puzzled by the piece. I was so bewildered by the piece that I actually should in front of the artwork gazing at it trying to make sense of it. I then moved on to a different exhibit were as soon as I stepped in the room I was overcome by sorrow. I was so overwhelmed by everything; it was such an emotional roller coaster.

      One of the few artworks that I actually liked from MoMa PS1 was “The Three Disappearance of Soad Hosni” by Rania Stephan. This piece was about Soad Hosni, a famous Egyptian actress and her journey growing up in film. The artist showed clips of Soad Hosni early years as an actress all the way up to her last film, also including clips of raw documentary. One of the reasons why I liked this piece so much was because the artist was able to sum up pieces of the actress life and career and transform it into a lovely work of art. The piece also caught my attention because of the era of the films. As a teenager my sister was a really big fan of Marilyn Monroe. She would stay up almost till 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning watching Marilyn Monroe movies on AMC. I remember one night actually staying up with her to watch one of Monroe’s movies and I must say it was pretty good. After that night I started to take an interest in not just Marilyn Monroe movies but in movies filmed in the 1950s-1960s era. I loved the humor of the films and how some of the actresses had take charges attitudes. Stephan’s piece brought back good and fun memories of my sister and I spending time together, watching classic vintage movies.

      Another work of art that I saw that but kind of threw me off was Janet Cardiff “The Forty Part Motet.” While at the museum I didn't fully read the description about the artwork. The sound of the forty speakers were so loud and distracting, all I wanted to do was get out of the room. The music at first entering the room was soothing, so I thought. The longer I stood in the room the sadder I began to feel. It was as if a wave of sadness crushed over me, I kept thinking to myself, “what is this, I don’t even know what the music is saying and I’m feeling like this.” I was defiantly confused and did not understand what was going on. I guess the sound of a choir individually being recorded and put on speakers, is not a sound that my ears were quite fond of.

      Frances Stark “My Best Thing” is a piece that I had very little interest in. For starters, the piece was an “animated soap opera, constructed from interactions with online video chat rooms.” The description itself turns me off. As I stepped inside the exhibit room and watched a couple of minutes of the video. I kept thinking to myself, “what? What’s the whole point of this video.” Honestly speaking, I did not watch the entire video; I was surprised that I even stood in the room as long as I did because I really can’t stand anything animated. Don’t get me wrong, I could appreciate something even if it’s not my cup of tea but Stark’s piece was just combined with too many things that are not to my liking; animation, soap operas, online chat rooms, really?

      To conclude, my experience at MoMa PS1 will considerably be memorable. I went into the museum happy and excited to learn about the artworks but left confused and a bit frustrated. Yes, I know it may sound like I’m over exaggerating but I’m not, okay maybe just a little. But like I said before, it was an emotional roller coaster. Even though my MoMa PS1 experience was not the best, I would still encourage others to go and visit the museum. Only because I did not really enjoy the museum does not mean that someone else is not going to either.

Rania Stephan

"The Three Disappearance of Soad Hosni"

Digital video, color, 70 min.

2011

Janet Cardiff

"The Forty Part Motet"

40-track sound recording (14:00 min.)

2001

Frances Stark

"My Best Thing"

Images, slideshow (video, color, sound)

2011