Mulling over Modern Art

The news that we would be analyzing art in the second day of class provoked a happy little pang of nostalgia in me. The activity was a nice transition back into school life from a recent trip to Mexico City, one in which I and fellow Academic Decathletes spent much time perusing various works of art located throughout the city. The works ranged from Diego Rivera murals adorning the Palacio Nacional to unusual modern art pieces residing in the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo. Initially I had the brilliant idea to post pictures of several modern art pieces that captured our attention and ask what your intrepretations were, but it had escaped my mind that the pieces were part of a display and were under stringent rules to not be available for viewing by the general public. In other words, I couldn't take pictures of them there and I can't find any here online. Alas, I will continue my search to see if anything can be dug up. But until then, in lieu of the funky modern things I know you are all interested in, here are several substitute pieces for your viewing pleasure. Let me know your artistic interpretations.



You know about as much as I do regarding this piece. It was standing free from any type of signage (yes, that is actually a word) in the center of a road near the Museo Tamayo, the modern art museum. The sidewalks and median along this entire road are home to displays of various sculptures, paintings, and photographs. My theory on this (considering that Mexico is very Catholic) is that the sculpture may be a Biblical reference to the story about feeding a crowd of people from just a few fish and loaves of bread. Maybe it symbolizes a dream for the future of Mexico, which is currently a country with an extremely high percentage of people living in poverty. It may show hope for Mexico one day being able to use what materials it has (scarce as they may be--one fish in the sculpture) and make something more of them so they can be fairly distributed to everyone.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z9HpuuBFGY
A link to a video that follows the journey of two bouncy balls through Mexico City to the Museo Tamayo. It's interesting, that's for sure, but I have yet to decide whether it is actually saying something or if it is just an advertisement for the museum.