Roni Horn at ICA, Boston

Yesterday was another gloomy and rainy New England winter day.  I almost didn't go to the ICA here in Boston to see the Roni Horn aka Roni Horn exhibit because of the awful weather, but I certainly am glad that I did brave the elements afterall.  In fact, I think I may have enjoyed the show even more because of the weather.  It was a fantastic collection of sculpture, photography, paintings, and poetry all by the artist, Roni Horn.

Horn is an American artist born in the 50's here in New York.  She is a graduate of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and now splits her time between New York and Iceland.  Her work is largely concerned with identity and the experience of the here and now.  Her work has been shown the world over and her works have earned her quite a bit of recognition in art circles.

I could give you a detailed description of the pieces that I saw, but I feel that it would defeat the purpose of the artist's work.  I think what she really wanted was for me to use her works as a mirror for what was going on inside myself while I was walking through the show.  Her photographs, paintings, blocks of pink glass, and giant ant farm were all hugely minimalistic and didn't offer much to analyze in terms of content or construction other than the obvious.  Instead, I spent the afternoon pondering in a meditative state focusing on the feelings evoked within myself by the art.  I hope I didn't miss the point of the show, but the dreary weather put me in that sort of mood.  Plus, I am a huge Romantic after all...

ICA, Boston

At about 1:30 today, I received a phone call from my manager at work asking if I'd like the night off.  My initial instinct was that I should work, but then as I thought about it for a second, my sense of adventure began to get the better of me... and I need to clean my kitchen too!  Anyhow, inspired by the beautiful crisp day outside, I set out to the Institute of Contemporary Art here in Boston.  I had been putting off making it there for a visit for far too long, and given this unexpected free evening with no plans, it seemed an obvious choice for a way to spend my afternoon.

I arrived there and bought my ticket for general admission.  The guy at the front desk let me know that the main gallery was being renovated and as a result, they were offering free admission after the 19th through the 21st of March with the ticket that I purchased today.  WIN!  I will definitely plan on heading back in a couple of weeks with my two-fer ticket that I bought today.  He stressed to me that there would be a lot more to see when I returned.  I got the feeling that what I saw today was a very small part of the collection indeed, but it was a rewarding experience nonetheless.  In truth, it was nice to be able to pop in and out and not feel as though I had missed a substantial part of what there was to see.

My first stop was an installation by Krzysztof Wodiczko called Out of Here: The Veteran's Project.  It was basically a dark room with basement window projections on the wall near the ceiling.  A soundtrack of an engagement of war played in the room and made you feel as though you were hearing what was going on just outside your own window.  It was eerie and powerful and made me question the validity of war.  It was a shocking and visceral first impression of what the ICA has to offer.