Creativity

As a logical, solutions-oriented kind of person (I just re-took the Meyers-Briggs), I'm always in awe of creativity. On a recent trip to Boston I visited the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), located across the bridge into South Boston, not far from the Convention Center. I didn't know much about the place, which made the recent exhibit on dance and art even more surprising and rewarding. 
The ICA sign is a bit off-putting in this area that was originally shipyards and industrial buildings. Is this a modern warehouse for the IGA food markets? 

The view from the water side is completely different and inside the museum there are two outstanding places to view the harbor. The first is an expansive view from a windowed corridor, where I took this picture.

The second is a more intimate, tiered view that focuses just on a narrower subset of waves. When I visited, there was also an inviting, complementary installation of wave shapes overhead in the small seating area. You could also view dance performances on wide screened monitors while sitting there. My favorite was a tribute to the Nijinsky/Nureyev ballet Afternoon of a Faun with that wonderful music. I listen to it now and it still evokes the sunny afternoon, watching the gentle ripples of the harbor, and feeling peaceful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7b1FkZYarU&feature=related

Other favorites of mine in the exhibit:

Janine Antoni drawing with Loving Care Black dye and her long hair:

You'll never feel the same about coloring your hair!

Another of her creations was an entire canvas composed of mascara from her eyelashes. You know how you sometimes brush up against the bathroom mirror and leave a delicate pattern of your lashes? Well, imagine a whole page of these--talk about getting close to your work.

There were other works created unconventionally without using hands or brushes. One involved a basketball bouncing on a painted surface. Another had three snails do the work--although that must have taken awhile. Gimmicky or art, I don't know, but if art is supposed to give you a new way of looking at the world, it certainly gave me some laughs and opened my unmascaraed eyes to innovative interactions with everyday objects.

One of the most interesting was Trisha Brown's Floor of the Forest: rows of ropes, hung with oversized shirts and pants. A single dancer appeared when I was there, and "interacted" with the installation - snaking her way from one shirt/pants to another, hanging below the ropes and often resembling a cocoon, bat, insect or reptile. Shadows cast on the floor added to the performance. Here's a cut from YouTube with 3 dancers to give you some idea, but as they say...you had to be there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HZl6IMVyE&feature=related

So if you're in Boston before the Dance/Draw show closes on January 16, take a look. An added bonus: the museum "guards" are all art or art history students, happy to talk about the installations and art works. A fun afternoon!