The World is Ours , aka "modern art just gets me every time . . ."

My brain is still buzzing a little from the amazing field study I went on with Women, Art, Identity yesterday afternoon/evening.  It was a 6 1/2 hour trip with sensory overload and aching legs, but it was something I'd do again if I could!  We went both to the Ordrupgaard in Klampenborg and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk.  Both were old summer homes/villas with added on modern architectural extensions, although the Ordrupgaard houses mostly the private, largely Impressionist collection of the original owner, while Louisiana is more of a proper museum.  Either way the setting in the Danish countryside was perfect for both galleries.  Art should be graced by the changing leaves, wildflowers, and/or the lapping waters of the Øresund Sound.

One of the best parts about Ordrupgaard was the building.  The old home had gorgeous and intricate woodwork, melded into the high ceilings of the late 19th century.  But Iranian architect Zaha Hadid also perfectly blended her curvy, glass-paneled extension onto the grounds.  This wing currently houses Munch og Denmark--a selection of paintings and drawings by Edvard Munch when he spent time in Copenhagen.  I didn't know much about Munch before, but I have a huge appreciation with what he does with color--both to make things to stand out and how he blends bright colors into neutral ones that we expect in images.  He also had this crazy story called Alfa og Omega.

But the Louisiana museum was just INCREDIBLE.  It's a very large estate--with part of the museum hidden underground, while the rest is either hidden by trees or is outside as a part of the sculpture garden (to the right is a picture of Janey-Waney by Alexander Calder).  The building is joined in a circle, so it's very easy to navigate around, although--like with many art museums--it's hard not to feel like you're missing some totally awesome corner.  I didn't really spend much time in the permanent collection or in the green architecture exhibition because there were two others that really took a lot of my focus. 

The first was called Faith, Hope, Love, and was a series of photos in America by Danish photographer Jacob Holdtz.  I took no pictures, but was just in awe at how he captured some of the darkest corners of American society, taking notes from an outsider perspective, judging it, and still making friends:  with Klan members, revolutionaries, the poorest of the poor, millionaires on plantations, a serial killer.  It was incredibly moving, and surprisingly not at all offensive with his (obviously) negative story to tell about my own country.

Then there was The World is Yours, which captured contemporary art in some of its best moments.  It was the single most interactive (yet still serious) art exhibit I have ever visited--including a wall you had to smell, a microscope that played the Police, a mirror that creates an army out of one viewer, a cloud of microphones that sings the sounds of India and Pakistan, a stage that allowed the audience to manipulate radio playback by stepping in the lights, and (last but not least) a toilet that gives the user a chance to relieve oneself with full view of the sculpture garden.  The whole exhibition just gave normal museum-guests agency that they wouldn't normally have.  Some pieces were joyful, ridiculous, but others--including Singing Cloud--addressed a very real, modern problem.  But the world is ours, right?  If we can have agency in a museum, we can have it in the real world.  I've only ever been to three different countries, but that doesn't mean I have any less ability to explore, to feel, and to change.