Sunday, February 27, 2005
Rachel and Alicia's Excellent Adventure
I had the BEST day Friday with Alicia. She invited me to go to Dallas with her to visit the Crow Asian Art Collection. ( http://www.crowcollection.org ) I have to admit that I was a little worried at first, given that I am a Western girl with next to no art appreciation. I thought I might not like much of anything there.
Boy was I wrong.
I learned about geishas in the kimono exhibit. The jade art was absolutely amazing. The snuff bottles were really really cool as well. But what was my absolute favorite part of the musuem? Without at doubt, the guards. Dre and Wally were major badasses who taught me a lot about art. Dre knew loads about how the jade art was made (years and years and years of grinding with sandpaper to sculpt some of the pieces), and about the culture and practices surrounding the creation of art in China. What might have been the coolest of all was learning the behind-the-scenes scoop on the collection itself, and the family who buys the art. I really liked that the guards knew so much about the art and were encouraged to talk to the visitors. I want to go back and talk to them more.
Additionally, Dre was kind enough to try and hook up me or Alicia with the cute boy at the front desk. His hair was super awesome, and he works in a museum, so I have to give dibs to Alicia. I did ask Dre if the Crow family had any single sons around my age, and apparently there is a 23 year old who is as nice as the day is long. I'll take him.
We had only meant to visit the Asian art collection for a little while, but between the late start with parking difficulties (beware of towing) and our fantabulous conversations with the staff of the museum, we didn't make it over to the Nasher in time to be able to really appreciate it. I may not have a huge appreciation of art, but I do think I need more than twenty minutes to do the gallery. We did have time to visit the museum store before closing, where Alicia found a marvelous bag. Marvelous doesn't even begin to do it justice really. I think you should definitely make your way towards Alicia's blog (http://museumofmodernalicia.blogspot.com) and look at her bag's picture. It is quite beautiful to behold, and it was one hell of a steal.
After the museum visit, we went to the building with the hole in the middle. You know the one I'm talking about. We hopped in an elevator and went right to the bottom of the hole, which is where the picture below comes from.
Boy was I wrong.
I learned about geishas in the kimono exhibit. The jade art was absolutely amazing. The snuff bottles were really really cool as well. But what was my absolute favorite part of the musuem? Without at doubt, the guards. Dre and Wally were major badasses who taught me a lot about art. Dre knew loads about how the jade art was made (years and years and years of grinding with sandpaper to sculpt some of the pieces), and about the culture and practices surrounding the creation of art in China. What might have been the coolest of all was learning the behind-the-scenes scoop on the collection itself, and the family who buys the art. I really liked that the guards knew so much about the art and were encouraged to talk to the visitors. I want to go back and talk to them more.
Additionally, Dre was kind enough to try and hook up me or Alicia with the cute boy at the front desk. His hair was super awesome, and he works in a museum, so I have to give dibs to Alicia. I did ask Dre if the Crow family had any single sons around my age, and apparently there is a 23 year old who is as nice as the day is long. I'll take him.
We had only meant to visit the Asian art collection for a little while, but between the late start with parking difficulties (beware of towing) and our fantabulous conversations with the staff of the museum, we didn't make it over to the Nasher in time to be able to really appreciate it. I may not have a huge appreciation of art, but I do think I need more than twenty minutes to do the gallery. We did have time to visit the museum store before closing, where Alicia found a marvelous bag. Marvelous doesn't even begin to do it justice really. I think you should definitely make your way towards Alicia's blog (http://museumofmodernalicia.blogspot.com) and look at her bag's picture. It is quite beautiful to behold, and it was one hell of a steal.
After the museum visit, we went to the building with the hole in the middle. You know the one I'm talking about. We hopped in an elevator and went right to the bottom of the hole, which is where the picture below comes from.
