la jolla mcasd

i can't believe i've lived in san diego for over 10 years, working in la jolla all that time, and have never been to the la jolla branch of the museum of contemporary art. escaping the inland meltdown last sunday we started off our visit with lunch at the museum cafe:



comfortable chairs, shaded outdoor seating and friendly service made for a very relaxing lunch, if you can ignore the general la jolla snootiness of the clientele. my beet salad was refreshing in the heat:



before we headed into the museum we took a quick photo with the hammering man who makes many cities his home. hammering man, whose arm is powered by a 3 hp electric motor, is an ode to the working man, and therefore rests at night and on labor day.



as we entered the museum a rock band was playing, and tables were being set up for a children's activity session. the current exhibit is titled "soundwaves: the art of sampling", and included several intriguing pieces that explored the intersection of sound and art. one favorite involved three children's pools with various china in them, slowly rotating from a motor-generated current. their clanging chimes were mic'd and amplified over speakers. other pieces involved listening to headphones and watching visuals at the same time.

the highlight of the entire museum was "matrix II" by edwin redl, which has been acquired by the museum. green LED lights hanging on wires light up an entire room in a grid that you can walk through. it was a trip to line up a row of the lights at eye level from one corner and absorb the full effect. check out his website at the link above for some even more impressive uses of LEDs. between this, the proposed coronado bridge blue LEDs and articles i've read on their varied uses (they can be display many different colors), these low-energy lights are pretty exciting.

the view of the ocean out the back windows might be one of the best a museum has to offer in this country:



well the getty has some pretty awesome views too...

after absorbing all that stimulating art we headed to the sculpture garden being the museum, strolling past the dj who was mixing records. hanging off the back of the museum was this piece that was rejected by the art-challenged citizens of san diego for display near the harbor (hopefully not in favor of that big giant ridiculous sailor and girl statue north of seaport village):



fortunately mcasd la jolla is a bit more enlightened.

it was all enough to end up crashed out in a lawn sculpture that seemed to fit just right: