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At the museum

On Sundays, museums in Munich are free. This is splendid news. First pick for museum excursions was the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich’s museum of modern art, as it had been advertising a “Humanism in China” photography exhibit for some time.

That exhibit was absolutely phenomenal. I’d expected to see a row of photos by a single photographer who had tried to document the Chinese lifestyle in a way that was sympathetic to basic human needs and highly critical of the economic and political situation there. Instead what I found was a vast collection of photos from many different Chinese photographers, sorted into sections of life such as “Desire,” “Relationships,” and “Labor.” Still present, of course, were the humanist overtones (or was the humanism the primary melodic movement?), told through absolutely brilliant photography.

One of my favorite photos was a shot of an oil blowout, a zoomed in closeup of two workers trying desperately to shut off the flow as jets of oil lashed against them. Every inch of their body was covered in oil. Not even their eyes or mouths were visible, though both subjects were certainly facing toward the camera. Aside from the remarkable clarity and composition of the picture (the latter doubtlessly due to careful cropping), it was particularly affecting because it was part of a set. In the second picture, those two workers were naked, cleaning off the last drop of oil from their bodies, just leaving the washroom. Judging by the low sun filtering in through the high window in the stone wall, it was much later in the day from when the blowout must have happened. It almost seemed as though they’d had to keep working through the day before they could clean up.

The other areas of the museum were great, too. I’d say the piece I enjoyed most after Humanism in China was an empty room criss-crossed with taut black strings. You could walk through the room, amid the strings, and the angles would shift to show you different patterns for your imagination to have fun with. Very empowering.

There was also a log with chairbacks growing out of it. This made me happy.

Another excellent exhibit I didn’t get to photograph was a history of the personal computer, which included an Apple model codenamed “Spartacus,” eventually known as the 20th Anniversary Macintosh. Even Jonathan Ives had to learn his trade, it seems.

More pictures on the full album page.

Also, I’ve thrown up an album of our third Küchefest, which took place on Saturday night. I warn you that it’s terribly redundant, but at least everyone in it is having a blast.