MCA and Wintry Cheer

A beauty tip for looking skinny in pictures: stand next to a really fat tree.

Yesterday after work, the boy and I paid a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Chicago. The MCA (and a lot of other museums in the city) offers free admission to residents of Illinois every Tuesday so we figured why not go for a stroll up the super decked-out Magnificent Mile and see some cool art?

I'd been to the MCA a few times when I was studying as an undergraduate in the city but not in recent memory. I was relieved to find that many of the elements that make the MCA one of my favorite museums remained unchanged. The tasteful exhibits, the knowledgeable staff, the refreshingly minimal amount of pretense (for being a contemporary art museum, after all) and the near-zero existence of crowds, babies, and strollers for me to trip over all made for a relaxing and inspiring evening.

The Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec: Bivouac collection featured designs and patterns that toed the line 
between the familiar and the whimsical. Sort of felt like I was walking through Ikea on LSD.

The boy in front of a wall composed of hundreds of colorful plastic clothespin-like doodads.

Sometimes I still see something in a museum that makes me think
"why is this in a museum?". This was one of those times.

Posing in front of another colorful gradient wall, this time made of simple interlocking pieces of felt.

39 metronomes all set at different speeds. This made for quite the symphony.

Taking a break on one of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec: Bivouac's interactive pieces to study the exhibit program.

Another thing I always appreciate about the MCA is how manageable in size it is compared to other museums. In my opinion it's definitely a museum that places value on quality over quantity. I dislike the feeling of visiting a museum and walking out hours later feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and still like I barely scratched the surface of all it had to offer (I'm looking at you, Art Institute of Chicago!). At the MCA there was no such feeling. We saw everything that we wanted to in roughly an hour and left feeling very satisfied, chatting about our favorite pieces.

One last thing - I was pleasantly surprised by how much technology I saw infused with the exhibits. Notably, QR codes to scan for more footage or images with an exhibit and as a slick, sexy iPad app for showcasing the hundreds of Ronan and Erwan designs. I appreciated how the technological supplements were suggested thoughtfully and did not hinder or detract from the experience of walking through the physical installations. 'Twas a merry marriage.

And to wrap up this post with some festivity, here's a video I took of the CTA red line train decked out in Christmasy glory. It's so damn gaudy and over-the-top that I can't help but grin whenever I see it cruisin' around this lovely town.