Anxiety at the Museum

Today was the free day at the De Young Art Museum in San Francisco. We made it a field trip out of it since we haven't been anywhere fun in a while. The children are used to going places, but the typical venue usually encourages plenty of hands-on interaction.

Habitot, for instance, celebrates messes. The Exploratorium would be highly insulted if you didn't handle everything in sight.

We discovered today that museums don't like it when you run, touch, stand too close, press your nose against the glass....breathe.

I'm fairly certain that they tagged us fairly early on (probably with some sort of ethically questionable age profiling...although when I suggested that, Aunt Kristi said she would impose leashes and tazers for children...or maybe that was just for my children). We had our own personal team of museum personnel following us around trying to be inconspicuous in their shadow tactics. The children didn't like not being able to fully "experience" the art. Someone was always right there to tell us what we were doing wrong....again. Although, I'm sure we gave our museum personnel plenty of anxiety in "close calls" of glass touching, shoulder riding, and rope ignoring. I know I had enough anxiety to last for awhile.

Grandma was saying as we went to lunch that the museum curator was spouting off how the De Young was a museum for all ages. Uh-huh... riiight. Read fine print: "all ages", 12 and up.

After lunch we took the children outside to get their pent up energy out. There were a few artsy sculptures out on the lawn of the cafeteria. Out in nature, you are on the children's turf. As a testament to this fact there was a rather large safety pin displayed on the lawn. ..and the black-ops team assigned to us did not follow us into the yard. Hunter, who...it might be remembered does not read took it upon himself to approach some larger than life metal apples scattered all over the lawn and began kicking them with a particular vigor. He was getting the last few kicks in when we noticed the sign saying to please not touch the art. Figures.

We saw some works of modern art, which looked something like what Hunter brought home from Tiny Tots. Another room was full of piles of stuff, stacked tightly painted either all white or all black (Louise Nevelson). It did look kinda cool, but awfully simplistic.

I really hate to sound all negative...I guess at the end of the day full of child suppression times three and art museum anxiety it takes an extra little umph to recall that the day wasn't completely awful.

I prefer my art to be a reflection of master skill and craftsmanship, not something I could reproduce in a weekend. Reflecting on it now though, I probably couldn't come up with such an original idea as she did... so I guess the "modern" art is more the idea before the creation than the complexity in the expression of that idea. Is the art I appreciate is complicated, intricate, masterfully done? Yes! But, original? Not usually.

The top floor was full of plenty of beautiful sculptures and portraits to satisfy. I'd like to come back sometime with Michael and NO CHILDREN to look a little longer at certain things. The furniture woodworking was absolutely exquisite, but my favorites would have to be the marble sculptures. It's amazing to me that they can get something made of ROCK to look soft and billowy.

We saw a sculpture of Delilah. I reminded Ethan of the story from Superbook. "Meh..." We also saw the bucking bronco that we studied just a few weeks ago. I was so excited to see it in person, especially after having just studied it. Apparently Ethan wasn't that impressed, because he didn't remember it at all. Or maybe it's because it looked different to him in person than in a picture. Despite everything I would consider the day a success because the children did appreciate certain pieces of art. Hunter and Ethan found their favorite piece in the modern art section. What a surprise!