Critical Amusements

Storm King Art Center is best visited on an ideal summer day with a light breeze to wick the heat away. Located in New Windsor, NY, the sculpture garden is about an hour or so away from NYC. While there are public transportation options available, it is best to travel by car.  Especially if you're going rogue, and it's not an ideal summer day, flexible arrival and departure is key. 

Because it's primarily an outdoor sculpture collection, Storm King as one collection exhibited during the duration of the summer: mid-May through early November. In 2012, the collection on display was one which played with the idea of light, reflections and mirrors. Its premise was art which used natural light as a material and/or found inspiration from natural light sources such as the sun, moon, stars etc, in order to examine how light interacts with the surrounding landscape and our daily lives.  

It featured Solarium by William Lamson, a house made of caramelized sugar window panes, flowers and therefore, bees. From afar, the experimental greenhouse looks like a jewel atop a hill due to the amber tint of the windows. Up close, the house is transformed into a magical space through the real-life intstagram window pane filters.

As an outdoor curated collection of artwork, sculpture gardens occupy an interesting space between Art in a museum and the sculptures one might find in a public park. On the one hand, many of the pieces are site specific, especially those displayed at Storm King Art Center. An artist currently on display at SKAC, Virgina Overton used a topographic map to decide where to place her sculpture, as well as taking into account the area's social history in farming. Placement of each piece is intentional, relational and cerebral. It takes into account the movement of its visitors, making the process akin to traditional museum curating.

On the other hand, it is much easier to forget that each piece is ART when you're kissing a Three-Legged Buddha's nose. 

Three-Legged Buddha. Zhang Huan. 2007

Cameras, as well as Company, are essential ingredients to any Storm King experience.  The grounds are HUGE so it's best to set aside a whole afternoon to take a look, play and romp around a bunch of sculptures. Take advantage of the rare opportunity of being able to have fun with the art for once.

Hours

April 2 – October 31* Wed – Friday: 10AM-5:30PM (CLOSED Mon & Tues) Sat and Sun: 10AM- 8PM (through Labor Day (September 1))

November** Wed – Sunday, 10AM-4:30PM (CLOSED Mon & Tues) Storm King is closed on Thanksgiving Day.

*Open Labor Day (Sept 1) and Columbus Day (Oct 31) **CLOSED THANKSGIVING DAY

Remember that scene in Beauty and the Beast where the Beast shows her his library? *

On the corner of Madison Avenue and 37th,the Pierpont Morgan Library is the NYC equivalent of this fictional literary utopia. I've always imagined that in addition to the immense collection of priceless volumes, the Pierpont must have a hidden passageway or two.**  Quite possibly, the ghost of banker, J P Morgan could be found combing through his books late at night. 

Browsing someone's bookshelves can be as invasive as snooping through someone's medicine cabinet. The pairings of certain books, those that remain year after year often unintentionally sheds light on the person to whom they belong. As the daughter of a Librarian, I'm inclined to believe that each book has a story besides the one between its covers.  Especially in the age where the world is at our digital fingertips, a bounded volume of the written word carries increasingly more weight. 

So what does J P Morgn's collection of illuminated manuscripts, bibles and scraps of Bob Dylan lyrics say about the banker?  

Surreptitious Bibliophile: JPM (1837-1913)

 According to the library's website, Morgan once said, "No price is too high for an object of unquestioned beauty and known authenticity."

This sentiment is evident throughout the collection of illuminated manuscripts, master drawings, papyrus scraps and other evidence of early writings. Rather than seeking comprehensiveness, Morgan sought to acquire works associated with important histories, people or literatures. His collection of "notable works" indicates a desire similar to those who adopt the habits and behaviors of Great Men after reading their biographies. Morgan sought to surround himself with paper which had touched greatness. As a man who left a concrete impression on those with whom he interacted, Morgan selected books which like him, carried weight and left lasting impressions.       

225 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Open till 9 PM on Fridays (and FREE admission from 7- 9), the Pierpont Morgan Museum and Library location between Grand Central and Penn Station makes it a convenient pit stop for commuters after a long work week. With 18$ admission (or 12$ for Students, Seniors and Children, 13-16 y.o), I would visit Friday night, and devote the entrance fee to sustaining my own library, downtown at the Strand.

CLOSED MONDAY Tues -Thurs: 10:30-5PM Friday: 10:30 - 9PM (FREE 7-9) Saturday:10- 6PM Sunday: 11-6PM

*No, that's not a euphemism. He did indeed show her his library.

The Museum of Art and Design (MAD) must be a master of disguise located in the middle of Columbus Circle. Resembling more a home to a consulting firm, rather than museum, the Museum of Art and Design goes largely unnoticed unless looking for it. Its location on the upper west side is not particularly well known for its plethora of tourism sites. MAD's location in isolation from the traditional museum neighborhood on the other side of the green, is perhaps emblematic of the museum's overall aesthetic.

Museum of Art and Design, (2 Columbus Circle)

Architecture critic for the Wall Street Journal Ada Louise remarked in 2011 that, "this small building is an oasis of enchantment, a kind of Camelot on Columbus Circle. Its collections are instant eye candy (if the serious and erudite staff will forgive me), with magic in every imaginable material, leavened by irony and wit."  MAD's message: "showcasing the crafts person in the age of technology", values beauty through effort, over efficiency. It forces us to remember that slower is not inherently a bad thing* if it yields a well made and aesthetically appealing object.

The Museum of Art and Design's collections are often structured around a single medium or design theme, showcasing the diverse ways in which the medium can be manipulated within functional and artistic designs (often combining both!). While creating beautiful objects or "instant eye candy" as Louise calls MAD's exhibition pieces, a sense of play pervades throughout the museum.

As we all know, the sugar high from "candy" doesn't linger for very long. Likewise, during my visit to the museum, few of the pieces had lasting impressions beyond the initial "ooh and ahh" of intrigue. At the core, MAD houses many cool objects but perhaps little else. While clearly, MAD is a museum for those interested in the infrastructure of an object, or even crafts in general, for the general public, it asks us to reexamine commonplace objects through reinvention and reinterpretation, like in the chair constructed from chopsticks below.  

Sofa_XXXX; Yuya Ushida

Over 8000 chopsticks were used in Yuya Ushida's piece and can be both expanded and compacted according to the size you want. Similarly, a chair constructed from whisks used during the Japanese Tea Ceremony by artist, Hiroki Takada,** was nearby. In both pieces, they were constructed without adhesives, utilizing intersecting pieces of split bamboo to hold it together.

However, should we refer to this construction as "chair" or "sculpture"? Is this reinterpretation of objects inherently different from a pair of earrings created from spoons one finds at festivals or craft fairs? Perhaps unintentionally, the museum poses the question of where design lies within the spectrum of functionality and artistic value. The intersection between beauty, function, design and art cause MAD and the furniture exhibits of the Metropolitan, the MOMA and the MIA, to occupy somewhat of a liminal space within the concept of the "Art Museum".

While the Museum for Art and Design poses interesting theoretical questions by exploring the limits of a medium, and the liminality between museum and upscale furniture store, is it worth visting? With admission ranging from $16 (general admission) to $12 (students), IKEA, on the other hand, is free.***

CLOSED MONDAY Tues to Sun: 10AM to 6PM Thursday and Friday open until 9 PM                from 6-9 PM, it's "pay as you wish"

*Which explains the MAD's staff and tour of elderly women, who seemed to be the only other people in the museum when I visited. But I doubt it's because MAD is one "D" away from MADD. 

**Sofa_XXXX and Tea Ceremony Chair were both pieces within the exhibit "Against the Grain" which was open through September of last year. Other highlights of the exhibit included a chicken coop created by Hope Sandrow demonstrating how chickens should be kept, as well as a sibling to Game of Throne's Iron Throne.

For the Museum of Moving Image (MOMI), I took the biggest film fanatic I could find in the NYC tristate: my friend Jon who reviews movies on the online writing platform, Medium, and is probably currently watching something from the Criterion Collection. It seemed like a good call since my impression of MOMI is that it's the museum for filmophiles. MOMI is comprised of a main exhibit, "Behind the Screen," that breaks down all the elements of film creation, supplemented by one or two exhibits on something hip in the image world (currently, Breaking Bad* and YouTube video editing techniques in "Cut Up"**). This speaks to the museum as a whole, which has one foot in the past (where has the industry come from) and one in the present (where it's going). 

For one, the museum building itself blends the past with the present. The bright white interior coupled with the excess screens reminds me more of a swank space ship than musty museum. Think: Woody Allen's Sleeper House. But it’s also the former building for Kaufman Astoria Studios (most famous for The Cosby Show).

MOMI Entrance (36-01 35th Ave, Astoria NY)

Museums are traditionally devoted to things which stand still.  The visitor is the one who is supposed to do the moving (of a particularly slow, feet dragging across the floor kind) making it an excursion particularly hard on the legs, feet and back. So how does one create an exhibit around something in motion, something that is constantly changing? In Cut Up, visitors stand using headphones hanging from the ceiling. This was a great solution because it still retained the flexibility to wander from one editing series to the next, depending on which video was playing. The tendency in other museums is to play films in a dark sequestered room so not to distract or detract from the rest of the "real exhibit", often encouraging people to sit down (which is a good strategy since the film is usually auxiliary exhibit material). However, I usually skip it because it messes up my pacing and exhibit flow.

The main exhibit allows visitors to participate and sit in the editor's chair, learning sound editing, Foley-mixing, soundtrack selection by doing. Behind the Screen is one part history and one part production. It demonstrates that there are many more minutes that go into producing the 90 or 120 we see on the screen. 

MOMI is mostly inspiring because it seems to be the first clear sign that the concept of “museum” is changing as we know it. The traditional stationary exhibit is no longer the norm. Rather many museum curators are wisely re-evaluating in favor of technological, interactive exhibits (demonstrated heavily at MoMath). More museums are investing in the idea of an exhibit as not merely something we stand and squint at in order to ponder its meaning but also something we can touch, listen, run around in, and smell in order to learn better and understand more fully.

The "moving image" name allows the museum flexibility to play with "qualifications" and include arcade and video games in their collection.*** 

I could NOT pass up an opportunity to play Ms Pac Man.

MOMI is a fun way to pass an afternoon (or morning). The time goes by pretty quickly and our stomachs harkening for brunch were the only thing which dragged us away. If you live in the area, the museum (naturally) has movie showings throughout the year. Tickets to the museum includes admission to the daily film screenings. This summer it’s “gritty NYC movies”. You can watch a movie, thinking about all the choices that were made to create it. Or you can chalk it up to "movie magic" and sit back, relax and enjoy the film.  

CLOSED MONDAYS AND TUESDAYS Wednesdays–Thursdays: 10:30 a.m.–5 pm  Fridays: 10:30 a.m.–8 pm (FREE: 4 –8 pm) Saturdays and Sundays: 11:30 a.m.–7 pm

*This was the worst part of the trip. We missed it because it didn't open until July 26th in order to time it with the premier of the final season. Open through Oct 27th

**Since most of the videos are online anyway, MOMI linked them on their website. Unfortunately, my favorite "recut trailer" didn't make the cut. 

In Chelsea, snuggled off of 7th Ave and 17th St is the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, devoted to the collection of art of the Himalayas. 

A museum of Himalayan Art (versus say one of Modern art or American art) has additional and unique hurdles to overcome.

1. Himalayan Art? or the lack of Sex Appeal in Himalayan Art* In my experience, to most people, “Himalayan Art” either sounds incredibly interesting or incredibly dull. It’s one of those things (like Natto) that is your thing or is not; which makes it difficult to market to the average shmo. Most of the clientele (from what I can tell after interning there for a summer) are New Yorkers who have some interest already in Buddhism, meditation and other currently trendy East Asian phenomenons. (maybe Natto is next on the"It" list)

2. WTF is Himalayan Art? or mo' info = mo' interesting One thing the Rubin does a stellar job of is tying together the cultural and religious elements of Tibetan Art with the "art museum" aspects. By that, I mean it allows each piece to speak as a piece of art as well as an object within a larger cultural tradition. If you go and want to learn more about not only what it is, but also how it was used, I highly recommend one of the daily tours that the Rubin offers.

The Rubin is a relatively small museum—there are only four small (ish) galleries.  It’s not all strictly ‘Tibetan’ art.  The main collection, located on the second and third floors, rotates in and out throughout the year. My favorite piece is the Dharma Wheel of Life but there's also a lot of neat little Buddha sculptures in various poses. The top two floors and the gallery in the “basement” are exhibits on-loan. Last summer, they were filled with Modernist Indian art, sacred books and the photographs of Homai Vyarawalla, the first Indian female photographer (documenting Gandhi, Nehru and the Indian Independence Movement through stunning B&W photos).

Homai Vyarawalla; The Victoria Terminus, now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal, Bombay (1940)

Currently on display is "Flip Side" which shows both sides of Tibetan scrolls (the backside usually not displayed in other museums often has hidden spiritual meaning); an exhibit devoted to the culture of the Naga people who live on the border between Myanmar and India; and art on loan from the Brooklyn Museum whose Asian Art wing is temporarily closed. 

Lobby of Rubin Museum of Art (RMA)

While the art is really cool, RMA programs tend to be the main draw for visitors. Some heavy hitters in both the Western world (Roseanne Cash; Philip Seymour Hoffman; (possibly Alec Baldwin this fall?)) as well as in the Tibetan Buddhist community have made their way to the Rubin's stage.  My recommendation is to go on Friday night when the museum is open late.  The museum café is transformed into “K2, a quasi-bar-scene with live DJ (I’m partial to DJ Tygerlily’s sets) while acoustic or jazz concerts are held downstairs in the theater.** The best part of this whole “art club” scene is THE GALLERIES ARE FREE***

Seriously, Free Art + Live Music + Nibbles/Booze = Best Night Out

*Actually, Tibetan Buddhism Art is perhaps some of the "sexiest" art out there. Ever heard of Tantric Buddhism aka the Buddhism which involves highly elaborate sex rituals? The point is not to have a good time but to use the sexual union and orgasm as the key to unlocking a higher level of enlightenment. If you don't believe me, watch this highly amusing and completely inaccurate description by a drunk Diane Keaton on the Ellen DeGeneres show

**Tickets required. The acoustic concerts are a little steep for a whim but the Jazz is a good deal. 

***Museum by day, Nightclub after dark. A lot of other museums (usually ones catering to a younger NYC based audience) are doing something similar to this (notably Museo del Barrio and Brooklyn Museum). It can be a great place for out with friends, a date night or to meet new people. 

For a museum, it keeps somewhat irregular hours -- due to the high number of evening programs the museum has:

The Noguchi Museum, built in devotion to the artist’s work over his lifetime, is housed in a converted industrial building in Long Island City across the street from his studio (9-01 33rd Road). This monument to Isamu Noguchi’s ego* is a little tricky to find for those without smart phones, and the neighborhood doesn't exactly suggest that a Japanese Sculpture Museum is tucked away down one of its streets. 

Accompanied by former-Japan-travel companions (and forever VIPs), our trip to the museum was made on a whim inspired by the Japanese characters “No” and “guchi” on a map.  What was Queens in comparison to a journey halfway around the world?  We popped down on the N (or was it the Q?) which let us out into a less-gentrified neighborhood than the Upper East Side where we had been visiting the Frick (link to come!). Thankfully there is plenty of signage leading the way to the Museum which (should you choose to follow them) leads by the Socrates Sculpture Park.

Stop in and take a gander (even if you go in December like we did and it’s chilly. Just wear gloves!). Like some of the best things in life, it’s FREE. The Socrates Sculpture Park is built on an abandoned landfill and former illegal dump site -which kind of explains a couple of décor choices in retrospect. The mission of the park is to provide a space for artists to construct large scale, outdoor and/or multimedia sculptures so you’ll see a varied display of work.  When we strolled through there was an inflated Buddha** and a rowboat filled with pennies. I have no idea what deeper meaning they imply. Thoughts?

The Noguchi Museum is deceivingly big, or rather there is more art than you think when you first enter. We wandered for about an hour and a half. I found myself thinking multiple times during the visit, “There’s MORE?” But, it really depends on how much you enjoy rock sculptures. My suspicion is that the majority of visitors already have a foundation and/or interest in his work and/or life. We, as people who knew nothing about Noguchi pre-visit, were anomalies and only two of our group of four enjoyed the museum. Both of us agree that the "right mindset" was a crucial ingredient to our enjoyment of the museum.

The motto of the sculpture park also applies to Noguchi’s Museum.  There are few museums constructed by the artist’s themselves. (link to other museums?) Therefore, it showcases not necessarily his most famous works (in fact, most of the collection is not well known) but his favored works.  In the public eye, Noguchi is best remembered for his home décor (the Akari lamp*; coffee table), and urban/public spaces (the bridge in the Hiroshima Peace Park; Noguchi in NY). But what I found after visiting the museum is that Isamu Noguchi’s work becomes more interesting when viewed as a collection rather than as individual pieces. Individually, many of his sculptures appear as glorified rock carvings.

Landscape Sculpture 1970 // Awa Odori 1982 The Void 1970 // Vertical View 1973

Together, one is able to discern minute differences between each piece. The pieces speak to each other and tell a different story collectively than when they stand alone.

Sun at Noon 1969 // Sun at Midnight 1973

After visiting this museum (assuming you give the sculptures more than a cursory glance), I’ve been able to identify Noguchis in other art museums. It might not earn you mad street cred but it is a cool party trick to impress people with.

*Noguchi is often called “the bridge between the East and the West.” What aspects of the museum are “East” and which are “West”, I’m not entirely sure.  The museum is both inside and outside (harmony between the in and out of doors is a trait present in Japanese culture). Perhaps the concept of a self-devotional museum (actually two) is the Western trait.

**listed under "materials" for the sculpture: “inflatable Buddha” which prompts the question: “Where does one get an inflatable Buddha?!”

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday*: 10:00am-5:00pm Saturday & Sunday: 11:00am-6:00pm Monday & Tuesday: CLOSED

*1st Friday of every month admission is pay-what-you-wish. 

The New Museum is the only NYC museum devoted entirely to contemporary art - or art whose artists are still living. Its location on the Lower East Side in the trendy neighborhood of SOHO (235 Bowery), coupled with the kind of art they have on display, creates a hip and trendy museum image. Oftentimes the word "museum" calls to mind stuffy rooms and ancient artifacts kept in glass boxes. So even with it's name, the "New Museum" tells visitors that this is different from the rest. 

The exterior to the New Museum (crude drawing courtesy of paint!) also supports the museum's "cool kid" persona.*

The exhibits also have more a "small art gallery" vibe than "curated museum" which is due largely to the room size (see what I did there?). The open space leaves plenty of room to walk around and stand back to see the bigger pieces on display. The top floor is left open to the public as an Artist Studio space, so we can see art being made, once again contributing to their "cool kid" persona. The New Museum prides itself on devoting to new artists the same practices that other institutions devote to older, and more established artists. 

However, the New Museum suffers from the same problem of the art galleries it strives to imitate: The Art.  The advantage of creating exhibits around established artists is that they usually have a following willing to pay to see their work. Without this starting base of interested parties, the New Museum relies heavily on its "cool kid" reputation to get visitors in the door.**

My recommendation is to wait until purpose strikes – wait for an exhibit that you want to see for whatever reason (you’re familiar with the artist, sounds interesting, the NYT reviewed it etc). Then make the trek to the New Museum, pay the 14$ (or 10$ for students) and see the Exhibit as well as the others that happen to be there. Maybe you love it all! But realistically (and statistically), most will probably only enjoy one exhibit out of the four.

My Enjoyable 25% The BIG exhibit currently at the New Museum (through Sept 1) is a retrospective exhibit of the artist, Llyn Foulkes (an exhibit reviewed favorably by the NYTimes). Organized chronologically (with the earliest work in the entryway), retrospectives are always interesting because you're able to see the evolution of the artist and track artistic and thematic trends. At the end (or the beginning again?), I found myself trying to reconcile the first images with the last. 

Like how does someone go from this sculpture: 

In Memory of St. Vincent School, 1960, Collection: Norton Simon Museum

to this painting:

Llyn Foulkes. But I Thought Art Was Special (Mickey and Me), 1995. Mixed mediums. 

Stylistically, very different (although both use mixed mediums/found objects). Thematically, they both address disillusionment with childhood and the loss of innocence.  The first with the swaztika on the school blackboard and the second using Mickey Mouse to show Disney brainwashing American youth in the 1960s.

Two last nitpick-y criticisms

1. I tend to dislike museums that only offer elevators to travel between floors/exhibits. By all means, museums should have elevators (better, a ramp) but as the only option, it makes the museum pacing awkward and stiff. (but it did give me a chance to reflect once more on the Foulkes collection in the entryway) 2. Mood lighting should be reserved for intimate dining situations, not for viewing art. If it’s too dark to read the signs, what’s the point in even having the signs in the first place? I’m not sure who they intended to read the signs because they were both hung low (and at 5’ 6’’, I’m not that tall) and at an awkward distance from the art. I found myself hunting for the labels like a treasure hunt. Everyone should be able to easily find and read the labels. It's not a secret, right?

*Named one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" by Conde Nast in 2008. The red pentagram is a Rose Sculpture by Isa Genzken currently on display via the New Museum's building.

**For comparison, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is also a contemporary art museum but with more than just four rooms of exhibits. It's also more affordable for contemporary art which tends to be hit or miss. Why pay a steep $14 general admission for art I might not like?

Standing on the Mall, you'll see the Washington Monument obelisk on one end and the Capitol on the other.  Situated almost exactly halfway between the two, peeking up from behind the trees, is the Hirshhorn (700 Independence Ave SW; DC). 

In my opinion, the hollowed elevated cylinder looks more like a governmental defense building or a doughnut than a modern art museum. But modern art museums do have a habit of being round (see Guggenheim).* The HH's circular shape does give curators an advantage --a little more control over the way in which the exhibits are viewed. Visitors are limited to viewing them clockwise or counter-clockwise. As a patron, I'm not sure how I feel about this manipulation of art-interaction since I like to wander rather than following the "set path". I often end up going in the opposite direction from the intended... 

SO, THE HIRSHHORN. If you are in the DC area, GO. There really isn't any reason not to. Admission is FREE and it’s AIR CONDITIONED (God’s gift in DC). So even if you think you hate modern art, it doesn't cost anything so come and go as you wish. Come for the Air Conditioning, Stay for the Art. (Bathroom and water fountain in the basement)

Besides the lack of admission fee, what drew us to the Hirshhorn was the exhibit, Over, Under, Next, (at the HH until Sept 8th). This collection of art explores the evolution and creation of collage; the art of found objects.  Not only is the art cool, the history of it is also interesting: collage as a medium was originally regarded by the art community as lame and not-art (even though peeps like Pablo Picasso were getting on the bandwagon).  If you look at only one piece of art in this exhibit, stop by “Palimpsest” aka the “letter room.”  An installation piece by Ann Hamilton, hundreds of re-written handwritten notes coat every wall in this wall (the ones on the floor are encased in beeswax) in a meditation on transient memory. Some are in foreign languages (practice your Spanish, learn Norwegian), some text is faded beyond readability, and some are too high to read (without the assistance of a ladder or stilts).  Their stories remaining a mystery for most. Like most collections which deal with a specific medium, it was interesting to see the evolution of collage as well as the range and degree to which the found objects were used in each piece of art. 

The Hirshhorn’s regular collection features celebrated sculptors like Calder (and his fish), Henry Moore, Rodin and Matisse (and his four women). Some of my personal favorites included Suvero’s A Train* and this piece by Naum Gabo (Vertical Construction No.1) which are even better in person.  Franz West’s “Lemur Head” has the most interesting blurb/back story (one of those unique experiences where the story overshadows the art, itself)  Most of these sculptures can be found on the inside circular track of both the second and third floor and are worth taking a gander at.  Just don’t step too close, or an alarm will go off, dampening the experience of your fellow art-admirers. (JUST SAYIN) 

Besides the art inside, (if you can stand the DC heat or maybe come back in cooler temperatures) across the street is the sculpture garden.

Bunshaft**, the architect behind the Hirshhorn's doughnut-like appearance said that he wanted the building to be its own piece of modern art. So, the sculpture garden's reflection pool mirrors the circular shape of the museum. I like that he was thinking of how the two locations would communicate and compliment each other. While in DC, I encountered A LOT of reflection pools of which I don't really understand the point. In the 90+ degree heat, the water taunts rather than inviting reflections or serenity.*** But I'm a sucker for architectural symmetry. Anything for art. :)

Hours: 10-5:30 pm EVERY DAY Admission: FREE

*who also has some sculptures at Storm King (blog post link to come)

**the most unfortunate combination of words in a name

Nestled on the North end of Madison Square Park (11 E 26th St NY), a new museum opened last fall devoted to the celebration and education of perhaps the most hated school subject amongst the average child: The Museum of Mathematics aka the MoMath.  As someone who was decent at Math throughout my childhood, I was excited about seeing this.

1. MATH. Last winter, I took a class at school called “Tour of Mathematics” which boils down to a rotating weekly lecture by a different math prof on whatever interests them in the field of Mathematics. One week, it was how best to divide a cake such that everyone is happy; the next week was random walks on graphs. (!!) (something which did show up in the MoMath was the Square wheeled trike which can also be seen at Macalester College in MN) 2. A Museum… of MATH? From a conceptual angle, I was intrigued by idea of the MoMath. How do you make a museum devoted to Math? What audience was it catering towards?  In short, WHAT do you put in a Math Museum? 3. MoMATH: what a feisty acronym!

Overall, the Math Museum is worth going if you have an interest in geometry, shapes or have school-age children. The whole museum takes about an hour and some change to go through.

Great things about the MoMath 1. The admission badges

It’s the little things that separate one museum from the next. (lookin at you Met)

2. The “Enigma Café”: easily one of my favorite things at the MoMath. You can find most parents killing time at one of these little stations filled with mathematical mind teasers such as Peg Solitaire while their children scurry around touching, feeling and absorbing math concepts (bring hand sanitizer with you).  More of this would be great in the museum. 3. The staff: The exhibit monitors were awesome. They were really helpful in explaining how things worked (the practical) but also further explaining what concept we were supposed to be learning through the exhibit (the theoretical).

There were a couple things problematic/disappointing about the MoMath. The major qualms I had with the museum were the heavy use of technology (hard to engage with the material); many of the exhibits were closed/under construction (probably due to malfunctioning tech); and almost all the exhibits were focused on geometrical phenomenon.* Many of the exhibits required the use of some machine which were often difficult, complicated and faulty.  Not only that but they had a DIFFERENT machine with entirely DIFFERENT operating mechanisms for EACH exhibit.  The time devoted at the MoMath is about 40% math/exhibits/learning and 60% wrangling with machines. (side problem: They also need to step up their gift shop. No postcards?) BUT, these things said: I still believe in the MoMath. It just hasn't tapped into its full potential yet. The MoMath is a fledgling in comparison to the other NYC museum tycoons. Some things I would like to see at the MoMath is an exhibit about the different Mathematicians (teach me Pythagorean’s theorem but also why was he so into triangles? What was Florence Nightingale’s favorite Pie?***) or perhaps stats on the last election or stats on the museum itself?**

Any other ideas for a math exhibit? post it in the comments! *this last point is not meant as a slur to geometry as a mathematical discipline. Just that geometry is not the coolest mathematical phenomenon, IMO.

** some math circles turn up their noses at stats as a mathematical discipline. But come on, geometry? Sorry to hate on shapes. I love you, hexagons.

***for those who don’t know, Florence Nightingale is the credited with the “invention” of the pie chart. More info on cool diagrams. 

Admission

10$ for Students with Valid ID (but they never checked our IDs) 16$ for Adults 10$ for Children over 12

Hours

Collection

Type of museum

A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc.